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Ask the expert: Megan Milner, Finance and Accounting

Addison Group

Addison Group is a national talent solutions firm providing exceptional service to clients and candidates. Our passion is providing the right talent to advance your company’s performance and create a best-in-class experience for your workforce.

In this edition of ‘Ask the Expert’, Megan Milner shared some of her insights on popular workforce trends. She told us her thoughts on current hiring trends and what candidates are looking for in a new role. Read along to learn her top insights.

The main trend is a cautiousness in hiring and committing to hire. Companies have slowed down their process in an effort to assess candidate qualifications, as well as the need to hire. If a role isn’t urgent or essential, companies will wait until they find the “perfect” profile to interview or make an offer. Often clients are drawn to contract or contract-to-hire options while evaluating long-term needs and protecting against a potential bad hire.

When clients actively look for candidates, they aren’t only looking at typical requirements, such as educational background and certifications, they’re focused on specific screening criteria. Clients are now requiring specific industry experience, system expertise, and soft skills that are often difficult to quantify.

This hesitancy is likely due to uncertainty surrounding the economy and the job market for 2024, especially given that it’s an election year. This could also be coupled with the fact that many hiring managers made quick, snap hiring decisions in 2022/2023 that didn’t result in lasting hires.

What are candidates looking for in a new role?

In the current market, desirable candidates are pursued by multiple companies simultaneously. Additionally, candidates are considering several factors outside of just compensation. Often candidates are prioritizing flexibility in schedule and a hybrid workforce model, sometimes even over base salary.

Along with a focus on schedule flexibility, we’re seeing that standard benefits, like 401k and certification reimbursement, are not enough to secure top talent. Candidates are seeking out more untraditional perks. Some of these perks include mental health programs, gym memberships, family planning support (including paternity leave and IVF benefits), cell phone/transportation reimbursement, flexible core work hours (rather than a traditional 8-5pm), and even pet insurance. As companies continue to add these additional benefits to entice the best candidates, the expectation for other employers to conform and make these benefits more standard increases. 

Schedule flexibility, work-from-home opportunities, and the offering of benefits that indicate a company truly invests in their employees are the best ways to attract great talent in today’s market. Paired with a competitive base and bonus, companies will see success in not only securing, but also retaining quality hires.

Ready to hire talent for your team?

Need qualified finance and accounting candidates to add to your team? Addison Group can help. For more than 20 years, we’ve focused on quality, not quotas. We place qualified finance and accounting talent to help move your business forward. Reach out today for help filling your open positions.