UpFRONT Rethinking financial futures

There is worker unrest in New Zealand’s finance sector, according to major employment study released last month.
The study, conducted by global recruitment company Robert Half International’s finance and accounting arm, found that half the people working in New Zealand’s finance sector are looking to change jobs because their employers fail to address staff demands.
Employers in the sector are suffering from drastic skill shortages and high staff turnovers but, it seems, they’re still not doing enough to monitor employee satisfaction.
About 85 percent of respondents in some finance jobs believe they can get bigger salary only by getting another job. Most companies review packages only once year, leaving it too late for employees to change their minds.
More than half the survey respondents (52 percent) admitted they were looking for another job.
Many respondents say they are looking to change jobs to get bigger salary, yet 13 percent of respondents say their pay is never negotiated and 74 percent negotiate once year.
The findings revealed overwhelmingly that employees in this sector see overseas experience as the gateway to bigger opportunities and salaries.
More than half (51 percent) of those surveyed have overseas experience. The majority of them worked in the United Kingdom (38 percent), while 17 percent worked in Australia and 13 percent in South East Asia.
Even those who haven’t worked overseas believe better opportunities exist in other countries. solid 67 percent of those who haven’t worked abroad think there are better careers available outside New Zealand.
And females are still constrained by “glass ceiling” when it comes to pay parity with men. In nine out of the 13 job titles surveyed, women earned less than their male counterparts, with difference on average of 9.4 percent and up to 34 percent in some roles.
“Reviewing salaries only once every 12 months is clearly not helping businesses hold on to valuable talent of both genders,” says Robert Half Finance & Accounting managing director David Jones. “Finance professionals are in higher demand than ever before with around 25 percent of companies planning to increase their teams and more skilled staff than ever leaving for overseas opportunities.
“In addition to the salary issue, staggering 59 percent say they need another job to improve career progression. If employers considered promotion opportunities with employees before the dissatisfaction becomes irreversible, it’s likely they would dramatically reduce turnover.”
Better conditions are major motivator for staff wanting to move on, with 34 percent looking for new job to get better work/life balance.
The finance industry needs to provide better access to potential finance professionals, says Jones. “Fourteen percent of professionals surveyed completed undergraduate university degrees other than accounting, commerce or business. This trend may become more prevalent in future. As the skills shortage continues, the industry needs to explore the possibility of taking graduates from non-accounting backgrounds and training them to professional accountant level through bridging courses and accounting exams.”