It's Getting Tough for Everyone Else to Find Work

Accounting and finance workers are getting a bit nervous about the economy, even though there’s no evidence of a hiring slow down in their sector of the job market.

The Mergis Group’s Accounting and Finance Employee Confidence Index, which measures overall confidence among U.S. accounting and finance workers, recently hit its lowest level since its inception in 2005, according to data that Mergis will put out on Monday.

Fifty-six percent of the just over 400 professionals surveyed believe there were fewer jobs available during the first quarter of 2008, up 15 percentage points from the previous quarter. Only 14% said there were more jobs available, with the remaining 30% thinking the volume of jobs was about the same.

Overall, 66% of accounting and finance workers said the economy is getting weaker (no surprise), and the amount of workers who said they were likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months rose to 35%, up from 28% at the end of 2007.

“Given the volatility within this sector over the last few months, the continued decline of the Accounting and Finance Confidence Index is not surprising. Workers are starting to be concerned with the current economy, but in reality we are seeing a host of positive hiring trends,” said Jack Causa, senior vice president and group executive for The Mergis Group, which is Spherion Corp.’s professional placement subsidiary.

“In our business, we are continuing to see positive growth in this sector, especially for those with hard-to-find skills such as tax, financial reporting, corporate auditing and accounting for derivatives,” said Causa. “This growth, coupled with the U.S. Department of Labor projection that candidates in accounting and finance have the best job prospects of any industry in 2008, suggests that 2009 should be just as robust.”

At some level, accounting and finance professionals know he’s right. A whopping 82% said they were "not likely" to lose their job in the next 12 months. And, if they did decide to move, 58% were “confident” in their ability to find a new job while only 19% were “not confident.”

Of course I'm confident that if you want to find a really great job, it's waiting for you here.