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Finance/accounting confidence at six-year high

August 09, 2013

The Mergis Group’s second-quarter 2013 accounting and finance employee confidence index rose to a reading of 63.1  in the second quarter, up 9.7 points from the first quarter of 2013. It’s the highest reading since 2007. The Mergis Group is part of Randstad, and the finance/accounting confidence level is the highest among all industries tracked by Randstad in the second quarter, including engineering, IT and healthcare, manufacturing and office and administration.

“We continue to see the role of accounting and financial professionals evolve across industries,” said Steve McMahan, president, Randstad Finance & Accounting, Randstad Human Resources, Accountants International and The Mergis Group. “Hiring managers are looking for more than number-crunchers; they want analytical candidates with good communication skills who can assess the marketplace and react accordingly.”

Thirty-one percent of finance and accounting employees believe more jobs are available, up  from 20 percent in the fourth quarter. However, the number of finance and accounting workers confident in their ability to find a new job fell 7 percentage points from the previous quarter to 42 percent.

In addition, 42 percent of finance and accounting employees believe the economy is getting weaker, up from 30 percent in the first quarter.

“We are seeing a lot of movement in the finance and accounting space, particularly in areas such as insurance underwriting and financial analysis,” said McMahan. “We’ve also seen a major spike in transactional-based accounting searches, technical accounting, domestic tax and audit searches at the analyst, accountant and manager levels.”

Harris Interactive conducted the survey within the United States on behalf of The Mergis Group from April, May and June, 2013. It included 173 respondents employed in accounting and finance.