Firms in the Chicago and South Florida markets report a record number of open finance/accounting and IT positions heading into the fourth quarter and plan to increase their overall hiring plans in the next 12 months, according to a survey released by staffing provider Brilliant.

“Open positions in accounting and finance were reported by 48 percent in the Q4 2018 hiring survey, up from 37 percent in the prior two quarters and 38 percent recorded in the Q4 2017 hiring forecast,” said Richard Curtain, director of consumer surveys at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., who produced the survey for Brilliant.

“Moreover, the figure for unfilled accounting and finance positions was the highest percentage recorded in the past five years,” Curtain continued. “Open IT positions were reported by 43%, up from 35% last quarter and 19% in the year prior — also marking a five-year high.”

Additionally, the businesses’ hiring plans remain strong for the next 12 months, with the emphasis shifting toward an expansion in accounting/finance professionals. Twenty-six percent of companies said they plan to increase accounting/finance hiring in the next 12 months, up from 17% in the third quarter’s survey. And 23% plan to increase their IT hiring, up from 21% last quarter.

Plans for hiring additional temporary professionals were mixed.

For accounting/finance, 13% of businesses intend to hire additional temporary professionals, higher than the 12% reported in the previous quarter but edging up from the 9% reported at this time last year. Most of these temporary positions were intended to cover projects that only needed temporary support or in-demand roles that need to be filled; the need to evaluate potential employees for permanent, full-time positions was cited by 2%.

Temporary IT hires were planned by 19% of businesses surveyed, up from the 12% in the third-quarter 2018 hiring forecast and equal to last year’s fourth-quarter hiring forecast.

No survey respondent mentioned that hiring temporary professionals was so they could evaluate candidates for permanent, full-time IT roles; the entire need for temporary IT profes­sionals was dominated by current projects that need temporary support, 13%, and support for various in-demand roles, 6%.

The survey included close to 200 human resources professionals and hiring managers within the greater Chicago and South Florida markets. It was conducted between July 10 and Aug. 1, 2018.