UK Accounting, Finance & Support Salary Survey 2012

Despite turbulence in the global economy and uncertainty surrounding the eurozone, the UK hiring market for accounting, finance and support professionals, particularly in the south of England, remained robust throughout 2011.

To gain insight into hiring and salary trends for 2012, we surveyed 350 senior-level operational and HR managers working in accounting, finance and support. We focused on three areas: commerce & industry, professional services and the public sector.

These are clearly diverse markets but overall, the outlook is that there will be modest growth in 2012, at a rate similar to 2011. Positively, more than half of the firms we surveyed (including multinational corporations and SMEs) have hiring plans for Q1 2012. Anecdotal evidence indicates that companies with diversified portfolios and/or a presence in other geographies (particularly Asia Pacific) are more confident about their business outlook for 2012 and are more likely to have plans to hire.

Professionals with specialist or value-add skills continue to be in high demand. These commercially-minded individuals, who are able to impact companies’ bottom and top lines, should become even more valuable in the years to come. One of our key priorities moving into 2012 is to foster relationships with accounting, finance and support professionals for the duration of their careers, not just when they are seeking new job opportunities.

There were mixed levels of hiring within commerce & industry (C&I) in 2011. Despite the uncertain economic climate, job prospects should remain relatively strong for accounting and finance professionals within C&I in 2012, particularly those with strong commercial and analytical skills, as highlighted previously. Although many commercial firms approached business support hiring quite cautiously in 2011, there should be steady demand this year, particularly for digital and/or online specialists.

Although there is still a strong focus on cost management, most large professional services firms have recruitment plans for 2012, particularly in specialist and advisory related functions. Accountants with compliance, anti-money laundering and/or risk experience are still very much in demand. Within taxation, core corporation tax specialists across all levels, as well as expatriate tax and transfer pricing tax specialists are highly sought after.
The public sector faced another very challenging year in 2011, with the central government, the NHS and education all heavily hit by the government’s austerity measures. The majority of organisations within the sector continue to rely on non-financial incentives to attract new staff.
On the whole, salaries are expected to remain relatively stable in 2012. Increasingly professionals are considering ‘holistic’ packages rather than focusing on basic salary offers; elements such as flexible benefits, work/life balance and professional development are becoming more important to job seekers.

We hope you find this salary survey informative. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me directly.