We held focussed discussions and surveyed our network of tax professionals across Commerce & Industry, Financial Services and Professional Services in order to gain insight into the current effects of salary inflation spreading across the tax market. A resounding 42% of respondents indicated that they would be more open to exploring a new opportunity to counter the current cost of living crisis whilst also taking advantage of record salary increases that are now being rolled out across the market.
In our last Tax Industry Snapshot, we identified that 2022 was set to become the busiest year in tax recruitment history with market analysis showing a huge 135% year-on-year increase in tax recruitment activity. As we enter the second half of 2022, it’s clear that the war in Ukraine and increasing levels of inflation globally have not derailed this momentum. Demand for tax professionals is higher than ever, contributing to salary inflation on an unpreceded scale spreading across the market.
Our survey identified that salary inflation is being driven by 2 main factors; the current 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 are attempting to retain their current staff by proving uplifts that counter inflation in addition to attracting new talent into their business.
At the start of 2022 we initially saw firms in the Banking & Financial Services sectors such as Goldman Sachs increasing salaries at a rate exceeding inflation which was followed by commercial giants like BT and Tesco. The most recent high profile salary increase has been announced by PwC in June 2022 which confirmed the most significant increase to staff pay in 10 years wite employees receiving up to a 9% increase in their base pay.
With organisations taking different approaches to the current economic landscape, we wanted to understand if tax professionals think that cash is king or whether a firms underlying culture is still an important decision making factor in today’s post pandemic working world…
- A resounding 42% of respondents indicated that they would be more open to exploring a new opportunity to counter the current cost of living crisis whilst also taking advantage of record salaryincreases that are now being rolled out across the market.
- However, 34% of respondents indicated that company culture and flexible working arrangements were more important factors that they would consider when seeking a new employer. Of this demographic;
-
- 61% Indicated a preference for a hybrid role evenly split between home and office
- 28% Say they would prefer fully remote working, and
- 11% want back into the office full time
- 24% of respondents indicated that training and ongoing career development prospects were most
important to them when deciding to change jobs.
Our analysis reveals that that cash is currently the biggest factor in a tax professionals decision making process when considering a change of jobs. However, it’s clear that culture, flexible working and career development prospects are also very important factors and organisations will need to address all of these crucial areas to attract and retain talent today’s highly competitive market.
If you would like to discuss our findings in more detail, please contact:
Author: Graham Young – Director
Tel: 020 3826 8832
Email: graham.young@capitaltaxrecruitment.com