Unfilled Positions Nearly Double in Accounting, Finance, and IT

Permanent and Virtual Positions Pursued Over Traditional Temp Roles

CHICAGO (Sept. 26, 2013) — Accounting, finance, and IT hiring managers are set to strengthen their hiring plans for the remainder of the year to fill substantial talent pool gaps, according to the Brilliant™ Q4 2013 Hiring Forecast. Hiring managers have pivoted focus to fill permanent positions over temporary hires and to include offsite, virtual opportunities within position offerings.

“This forecast reveals a major increase in unfilled positions, with 50 percent of hiring managers now addressing an influx of unfilled positions,” says Dr. Richard Curtin, who directed the survey. “This is an increase of 17 percent from last quarter’s hiring forecast, which is pretty significant.”

This quarter’s forecast demonstrates a continued rise in unfilled positions and a substantial loss in key talent, resulting in a favorable outlook in hiring plans for accounting and finance and IT professionals. The pace of hiring is expected to remain favorable despite legislation changes and economic uncertainty.

“This forecast reveals a strong opportunity for hiring professionals and top talent alike within accounting, finance, and IT roles,” says Jim Wong, CEO, Brilliant. “Despite uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act, there is increased opportunity for growth, and the focus is on filling permanent positions.”

Unfilled Staff Positions Surge
Half of all respondents said they currently had unfilled positions within their accounting, finance, and IT staffs in both the Q3 and Q4 2013 Hiring Forecasts. This was substantially higher than the 30 percent who reported unfilled positions at the start of 2013 and in late 2012.

Hiring Managers Express Cautious Optimism
While net gains in the total number of employees are anticipated, respondents expressed a cautious optimism recognizing they face changes in the economic environment, as well as federal health care regulations. Importantly, 50 percent of allfirms reported they had unfilled staff positions, which is an increase from just 33 percent in early 2013.

Gains in Economy Expected
When asked about prospects for the year ahead, respondents anticipated economic conditions would remain favorable.

Key Talent Loss Due to Desire for Career and Entrepreneurial Pursuits
The potential loss of key employees in the next 12 months was reported by 28 percent, which is substantially above the 19 percent recorded in the Q1 2013 Hiring Forecast.

Influencing factors in the loss of key talent, include the talent’s desire for career advancement (including 12 percent pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities) and increases in pay or health and retirement benefits.

Continuous Hiring of Temporary Employees
Although respondents were more likely to plan on adding their organization’s total number of temporary or contract staff within accounting, finance, and IT, these net additions were less than reported in the Q3 2013 Hiring Forecast.

Key Use of Offsite or Virtual Staff
Respondents were asked if their organizations used offsite or virtual employees to perform some of their accounting, finance, and IT functions. Nearly half (48 percent) of all respondents reported employing such offsite (or virtual) workers.

About the Brilliant Hiring Forecast
The Brilliant Hiring Forecast, established in 2012, is a quarterly survey of human resources professionals and hiring managers in accounting, finance and IT from a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, consumer products, service, financial services, professional services, retail, real estate, and non- profits. It is conducted by Brilliant and Dr. Richard Curtin, professor and director of surveys for the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The Q4 2013 Brilliant Hiring Forecast includes responses from 185 professionals, surveyed from August 14 – September 16, 2013.

About Brilliant

Brilliant specializes in professional temporary and permanent staffing and management resources for accounting, finance, and information technology positions in Chicago and Ft. Lauderdale. Using a unique consultative approach to develop a heightened awareness of both client hiring needs and candidate talent, Brilliant delivers a higher value and the right candidate every time. Brilliant represents large publicly traded Fortune 500 companies and leading privately held entities from a broad range of industries including manufacturing, distribution, health care, consumer products, service, financial services, professional services, retail, real estate, and not-for-profit. Complete information about Brilliant is available online at www.brilliantfs.com.