Yahoo Finance Brexit uncertainty boosts demand for a very specific accountancy job
Brexit uncertainty may be hurting jobs growth in the financial sector, but it is causing a boost in demand for one very specific type of accountant.
Banks and investment firms sought to hire technical accountants with the prestigious ACA qualification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), according to global financial and professional services recruiter Morgan McKinley’s UK 2019 Accounting and Finance salary guide.
“The main trends of 2018 driving Accounting & Finance recruitment were the demands for strong technical ACA accountants and commercial professionals with extensive experience in budgeting and forecasting,” said Marcus Williams, associate director of financial services at Morgan McKinley, in a statement sent to Yahoo Finance UK.
“The uncertainty around Brexit and offshoring of finance functions created a sense of hesitation for many individuals to come to market, however those who were keen to move were able to demand a higher compensation package due to a skills shortage.”
The uncertainty over how Brexit will play out is continuing to hurt London’s financial sector jobs.
According to Morgan McKinley’s Employment Monitor, data from December showed that jobs in the City dropped to a seven year low due to Brexit uncertainty. Hakan Enver, managing director at Morgan McKinley UK, said that in 2018 “we saw job numbers fall off a cliff.” Year-on-year, there was a 39% decrease in jobs available and a 29% decrease in professionals seeking jobs.
Notably, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said last week that the bank will not invest in Britain as much if there is a hard Brexit and outlined how jobs growth has remained stagnant.
“Our headcount in the UK over the last couple of years has not gone down, but it hasn’t gone up either — we have added head count you know on the continent,” Solomon said. “But I would say that, over time, if this is resolved in a difficult way or a hard way, it’ll have an impact on where we invest and where we put people.”
