LOB Salary Guide AUDIT - Flipbook - Side 5
05
Permanent recruitment trends
In 2022, the internal audit, assurance and
controls recruitment market picked up where
it had left off the previous year – with strong
demand, high placement volumes and
a steady stream of confident candidates
motivated to make a change.
Companies opened up the hiring floodgates
in 2021, once the uncertainty surrounding
Brexit and Covid-19 lockdowns began to fade.
Our consultants were inundated with roles,
and much of this pent-up demand spilled
over into 2022.
“A perfect storm of factors has led to a
massive amount of hiring over the last
two years,” says Russell Bunker, Director of
Barclay Simpson’s Audit Division.
“The pandemic encouraged many people
to reassess their lifestyle and consider big
career changes. Meanwhile, Brexit meant
fewer candidates were applying from
mainland Europe, exacerbating ongoing
talent shortages. Against this backdrop,
firms were incentivised to move quickly and
many implemented streamlined recruitment
processes in order to fill key vacancies.”
to uncertainty about the economy and
candidate shortages. Companies that had
previously streamlined their hiring are now
increasingly reverting back to longer, more
selective recruitment processes.
Despite this, starting salaries and temp
wages continue to rise, albeit at a slower
pace than last year, and hiring levels are still
high by historic standards.
Finding and attracting high-quality
candidates remains a key challenge for
organisations. Our latest survey data shows a
unanimous 100% of employers said sourcing
skilled professionals was difficult in today’s
market. Of these, 59% reported it was ‘very
challenging’.
Compensation expectations were the
overwhelming factor thwarting hiring, with
77% of employers citing it as a problem in
2022 – up from 64% who said the same
the previous year. A lack of technical or
regulatory skills (50%) and a poor cultural
fit (27%) were the second and third biggest
challenges, respectively.
A combination of these and other market
factors resulted in substantial salary
increases for professionals both in and out of
London, as well as at all levels of seniority.
Brexit continues to be a central issue for
organisations. Nearly half (49%) of employers
said the UK splitting from the EU had led to a
drop in suitably qualified candidates, with 19%
noting a significant reduction.
As we head deeper into 2023, recruitment
activity in the UK has slowed slightly due
Given the opportunities available at the
moment, it’s perhaps unsurprising that 94%
of candidates are currently optimistic about
their employment prospects. Nearly four out
of 10 describe themselves as ‘very confident’
in the state of the market.
Better remuneration remains the top reason
candidates sought a new role last year, with
51% of respondents listing it as their priority.
This was up from 41% in 2021, likely indicating
its rising importance as cost of living factors
take hold.
Interestingly, there was a significant drop
in the proportion of people who cited their
work-life balance as the primary motivator
to change jobs (12% versus 23% in 2021).
With more workplaces offering generous
post-Covid flexible working options, it’s
possible that some employees have already
experienced significant improvements to
their work-life balance, meaning other issues
now take priority.
Nevertheless, work-life balance ranked
higher overall than career development
as a motivating factor for the first time since
our surveys began. This was due to a larger
proportion of candidates choosing a healthy
work-life balance as their second or third
most important issue when considering
new roles.