We analysed our tax vacancy data across commerce & industry, financial services and professional services with a focus on comparing 2021 against 2022 in order to gain insight into current market activity and to predict likely trends that we anticipate in 2023.
We identified a total of 3163 tax vacancies that were advertised directly by employers and not through agencies in the public domain throughout 2022 which represents a modest year-on-year decrease in recruitment activity compared to the 3632 vacancies that we recorded in 2021. Whilst our data indicates a small decrease in overall tax recruitment activity when comparing 2021 against 2022, the tax market still remains very buoyant and is continuing to exceed pre-pandemic levels of activity as we move into 2023.
Of the 3163 tax vacancies that we recorded throughout 2022…
- Accountancy firms were responsible for 47% of this activity.
- 48% were in-house roles falling within the Commerce & Industry and Financial Services sectors.
- 5% were based at Law firms.
- 42% of vacancies were located in London leaving 58% of vacancies spread regionally across the UK.
We also undertook a number of surveys and held focused discussions with our network of tax professionals throughout 2022 and can reveal that the key factors affecting the tax market were:
Salary Inflation – 2022 saw the biggest increase in tax professionals’ salary levels in history! We identified that salary inflation is being driven by 2 main factors; the cost-of-living crisis arising as a by-product of soaring inflation and record levels of demand for talent across the market which is far exceeding supply. Organisations have been attempting to retain their current staff by proving uplifts that counter inflation in addition to attracting new talent into their business. These factors have created a high volume of opportunities for tax professionals to drive their career forwards whilst also securing record high compensation packages and we expect these conditions to continue throughout 2023.
Flexible Working and Company Culture – The post pandemic working world has led to the expectation for many tax professionals that their employer will enable hybrid working conditions. In our survey covering this topic: 61% of respondents indicated a preference for a hybrid role evenly split between home and office. 28% said they would prefer fully remote working, and only 11% wanted back into the office full time. It is clear that flexible working is here to stay and we expect this trend to continue throughout 2023.
If you would like to discuss our findings in more detail, please feel free to contact:
Author: Graham Young – Director
Tel: 020 3826 8832
Email: graham.young@capitaltaxrecruitment.com