Contractors and freelancers working in the accountancy profession expect more financial institutions to create interim opportunities in the coming year.
New research from the umbrella company Giant Group shows that 18% of accountancy contractors expect to find the most opportunities in investment banks and fund management. That’s up from 15.7% in the third quarter last year.
Hardly surprisingly, there’s been a marked drop in the amount of contractors who expect to see opportunities in the public sector. Just 26.5% in the first quarter of this year compared to 39.5% in Q3 last year.
Contractor accountants remain in high demand, along with chefs, HR professionals and software developers.
Another sector where there is currently a high demand for qualified personnel is engineering and this is expected to continue, at least for the next 5 years.
Until 2015, demand for engineers is expected to exceed supply. There are various major national projects underway at the moment, including a wide range associated with the London Olympics.
There is also a big shortage of specialised engineers in the renewable energy sector. Energy companies are looking for alternative ways to generate power, and the government is actively pushing for the UK to adopt a ‘greener’ lifestyle but there are very few graduates with the precise skills required.
Because renewable energy is still a reasonably new concept, finding freelance candidates with both the required skillset and the necessary experience is quite a rare occurrence.
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Image: Most Wanted by StaneStane
