The financial industry, once considered super-chic by college grads and working professionals alike, is rapidly losing status points. More people than ever in the financial industry are trading bonus checks for unemployment checks as financial behemoths like Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley are laying off people right and left, and banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America have shed thousands of employees and are rumored to be letting more go. More than 15,000 jobs in that sector were lost in May alone.
Meanwhile, there's one financial job that is more in demand than ever. Accountants have suddenly become the "it" jobs of the year, and their status for being securely and gainfully employed is ever increasing. There's nothing "humble" about the accountant these days.
As a matter of fact, accountants right now are in a good position to ask for a raise and/or a promotion, or their employers will risk losing them to another company that offers more. Accounting Principals, a leading accounting and finance staffing provider, just identified six finance and accounting jobs that are actually in great demand right now.
1. Accountant
The research found that at the top of the "most in demand" list is the accountant -- especially those with experience in the oil, gas, manufacturing, health care and hospitality fields. This is mainly driven by the current regulatory environment, which requires every company -- especially publicly traded companies -- to have an efficient and properly staffed accounting department in place.
2. Accounts Payable/Receivable Clerks
Next on the financial hot list are accounts payable/receivable clerks to work with vendor contracts, expense records and invoices, which are actually increasing.
The next four jobs, all of which have multiple job openings in just about every city, are:
3. Financial analysts
4. Controllers
5. Medical billing supervisors
6. Auditors
"Many organizations lost people to attrition in the post-recessionary environment and those companies today are again looking to staff up for positions that are vital to their business operations," says Mike McNamara, regional director of Accounting Principals. "Much of the hiring we're seeing is on a temp-to-perm basis, meaning employers bring candidates on for a short term project and then on-board them as full-time employees."
That's good news, according to McNamara. "We view this as a very positive sign for the industry and economy overall," he concludes, "because it means companies are looking to staff-up in anticipation of future growth."
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By Lisa Johnson Mandell,
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