Research shows high demand for specialist finance skills

Morgan McKinley’s 2018 Salary Guide has shown that demand for niche skills and specialist knowledge was strong in the accounting and finance sectors in 2017.

The recruitment consultancy’s guide also identified a number of key trends, including increases in salaries for newly qualified individuals working in finance in areas such as London.

Drivers

GDPR and tax legislation rules were the main drivers of recruitment, with Morgan McKinley’s salary guide showing the highest increase in the number of contractors that converted to permanent in three years as a result of IR35 changes.

This resulted in a boost in the number of experienced contractors with transferable skills in areas such as finance wishing to move to the private sector, whilst hiring in areas such as data and business analytics within sectors such as financial services also hit a high in London. 

The salary guide also revealed how Brexit has influenced different sectors in terms of hiring, with the effect being found to be positive for strategy aligned banking roles.

Positive

Commenting on hiring and the demand for skills in 2017, Morgan McKinley UK Chief Operations Officer David Leithead said: “Specialism was the watchword once more, with strong technical skills being highly sought after and rewarded. Despite the pervading concern and uncertainty around the economy, we experienced a year of growth in the UK which was a positive barometer of overall market conditions, and a good sign for 2018.”