Recruiting Market Report - August 2024

Find out what we are hearing from candidates and clients and get our predictions for the future of the hiring market in the August 2024 edition of The ASP Team Market Report:

Quinn Finnigan - Recruiting Services Leader

Joss Stokke - Recruiting Practice Leader

What are we hearing from candidates?
"Just be honest with me." Candidates are getting tired of the bait and switch. Unlike the past, they are looking to get a full understanding of the real challenges in a role and the true culture of the team/company. It doesn't fly any longer to sell someone on the rosy view of a position as people are much more self-aware now than even 10 years ago, meaning they want the full picture (good and bad) in order to determine their true interest level. In fact, the honesty will go a long way in building trust and could help a candidate feel more connected to an opportunity. 
More transparency will lead to a good long-term fit. There is no point in taking the time to onboarding someone, only to have them quit within a few months because the role was not what they were led to believe.

What are we hearing from clients?
"I'm capping pay." After what seems like years of employers willingly going above their maximum base salary for the right candidate, more and more clients lately have been putting hard caps on their base salary. Employers are regaining some leverage as hiring cools a bit nation-wide, and while in most cases their approved maximum base salary is not below market, they are less and less willing to go beyond that number, even for the perfect candidate who may want a bit more. 

What am I feeling about the hiring market?
Fall is coming - it's getting a bit chilly. At a macro-level, the job market is cooling - the most recent job openings figures show the number of open jobs is down 941,000 year over year. Also, the number of hires was down over 500,000 year over year. At last reporting, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%. Now, none of these trends is alarming, largely in part because our employment diversity in the region is pretty diverse and accounting/finance is generally less elastic than many of the underlying jobs represented in these figures. Additionally, our clients are still hiring, but we are hearing more and more about companies putting a temporary pause on hiring or cutting back for cost-cutting purposes. Perhaps people are waiting for the election outcome, or the next move by the Fed, or…who knows. All we know is it's starting to get a bit chilly out there.

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ASP Hiring Statistics - 2024
39 - Days to Place (avg.)
$158,540 - Avg. Placed Controller Salary
34% - Percent of Diversity Hires
94% - Percent of time we get interviews for our clients

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Recent Placements
Senior Accountant - Nonprofit - Seattle 
Director of Finance - Construction - SW WA
Director of Finance - Manufacturing - Kent, WA

View Our Current Openings

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Top Candidates
Take a look at some examples of accounting and finance candidates we are working with currently.

View Our Top Candidates

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Hiring Smarter with The ASP Team
Check out the latest episode of our accounting and finance recruiting podcast!

Episode 5 - The Value of Hiring Late-Career Professionals