HR firm Randstad Financial & Professional asked 10,000 accountants how they felt about the current job market.
It observed that, while salary had always been an important factor for job-seeking accountants, those starting their careers in 2013, 2014 and 2015 were even more conscious about how much they were being paid than those who joined the workforce during the recession.
More than a quarter (27%) of the accountants polled who started their career in 2015 said pay was the single most important factor attracting them towards particular employers.
This figure was less than half (13%) in 2012, the HR firm found.
“Accountants coming into the workforce can see that the tides have shifted in favour of the jobseeker,” Tara Ricks, managing director at Randstad said.
“With businesses expanding their operations in lockstep with the burgeoning recovery, the tables have turned: there’s a renewed demand for skilled accountants, giving new entrants to the sector more bargaining power in the interview room.”
She said employers would need to start meeting the expectations of a “more-money minded” workforce, as this year would see the first batch of graduates leaving university with debts of £27,000.
But Ricks also said accountants with a few years of industry experience should feel confident about asking for pay rises or start thinking of switching to an employer that is going to “compensate them in line with their worth.”
