Financial skills still in short supply

Johannesburg - There is a growing shortage of skills in the financial services sector, a survey released in Johannesburg on Tuesday shows.

"Seventy-nine percent of companies had difficulty in recruiting chartered accountants and 80% had difficulty retaining scarce skills," said Landelahni CEO Sandra Burmeister, of the findings of the Landelahni Recruitment Group's Financial Services Survey 2010.

Among auditing firms, 82% believe there is a shortage of chartered accountants.

The survey looked at the banking, financial services and insurance industries, particularly at graduates and post-graduates.

Using Statistics SA and Seta data, they estimated that the number of employees in the financial sector in 2010 is about 270 000, 3.3% of total employment.

This has dropped from 300 000 in June 2008.

Burmeister said it was worrying that although the number of students enrolling in accounting courses at universities had increased substantially, this was not translating into the number actually graduating.

"Between 1999 and 2009, the total number of university enrolments in accounting was 504 068, against 60 114 degreed graduates over the same period - an 11.9% pass rate."

Technikons were not faring much better.

"Technikon enrolments in accounting numbered 204 215 over the same 10-year period against 31 034 diploma graduates - a 15.2%  pass rate."

Given the increased complexity of regulatory compliance and corporate governance, accountants are more in demand than ever.

Couple this with the the fact that scarcity is a global problem, meaning South African skills would make their way abroad, a long-term solution was needed, said Burmeister.

"There is a growing demand and despite the slowdown in the economy, the trend has not been reversed," she said.

"This is why we're paying premiums (for these skills) - and with this data we'll be paying the premiums for the next 20 years."