Nearly half of U.S. finance executives say it is somewhat or very challenging to find skilled talent, according to a study released today by Robert Half International.

Seven percent of U.S. respondents said it was very challenging to find skilled finance professionals today, while another 36 percent said it was somewhat challenging. In Canada, 52 percent said it was at least somewhat challenging to find skilled finance workers.

When it comes to retaining existing talent, 43 percent of U.S. financial executives are concerned about losing their top-performing talent, up from 28 percent in 2010; 41 percent of Canadian executives were concerned.

Globally, 67 percent of executives find recruiting skilled talent to be difficult, while 56 percent are concerned about retaining their top talent.