ACCOUNTING HAS certainly become a numbers game in China, with skills shortages set to dog the profession next year, along with the real danger that salary levels will spiral out of control as the number of job vacancies climb.
A survey on the latest trends in the mainland's accounting industry by specialist accounting and finance recruitment agency Ambition has foreshadowed that without a short-term 'fix' for the problem of skills shortages, and no expected downward trend in the economy despite some uncertainty over external factors such as oil prices and bird flu, the accounting recruitment market will forge ahead in the coming year.
Apart from the new positions that have been created as a direct result of a booming economy, many people have chosen to change jobs frequently, creating a tremendous demand to fill vacant positions.
'The churn we have seen in the China market among local staff has been alarming and is reminiscent of Hong Kong in the early 1990s,' said Ambition managing director Guy Day.
He warned that wage increases were unsustainable and companies keen on securing their financial future had no choice but to implement measures to control growing labour costs.
'Rising employment costs and high staff turnover have exacerbated the problem of skills shortages, meaning organisations have had to look carefully at their retention programmes as employees look to capitalise on the buoyant Chinese recruitment market conditions,' Mr Day said.
