Qualified Accountants & Senior Financial Appointments Jobs Market April 2023
By 2023, there are few indications that Malta’s finance industry will be anything other than fiercely competitive and still candidate-driven. Overall, as both local and foreign businesses seek to continue growing and extending their highly successful organisations further, the demand for finance experts in Malta has continued to rise.
We continue to operate in a very competitive market as a result of the high demand for qualified finance professionals. As a result, both domestic and foreign companies are forced to conduct their recruitment drives at a much faster and more efficient pace than had been typical in the past. This is because doing anything less could lead to a preferred candidate accepting a position with another company, or worse, a competitor.
Malta is experiencing some notable changes right now, and one of them is in the iGaming industry, where there appears to be less of a need for hiring from a financial standpoint in one of the most active markets. Instead of the growth phase that had been more prevalent recently, the majority of iGaming businesses are currently going through what can be described as a consolidation phase.
The iGaming business continues to draw a lot of interest from candidates and is typically one of their top choices for new careers. This presents some difficulties because of the large number of applicants who are located locally and already have iGaming experience, which is a requirement for most iGaming roles today. As a result, organisations that are not iGaming as such but do business in the iGaming industry, such as PSPs and Affiliates, are suddenly swamped with applicants looking to gain the crucial iGaming exposure required to transition into a more conventional iGaming role down the road.
As has been the situation for the past 36 months within the insurance industry, there is still a significant demand locally. Both domestic and foreign employers are actively seeking candidates with very specialised insurance exposure, which is an exciting development. Given the high demand, most finance positions in the insurance industry are now competing monetarily with each other and, in some cases, setting the local salary standard. Although there appears to be a slight lull in this market, it is expected to pick back up in the remaining months of 2023.
The desire to work in and receive exposure in client-facing roles has been a significant trend that has continued into 2023. Candidates are now aware of the tremendous learning opportunities available in this field, which enables them to determine which industry best suits their interests from a future in-house viewpoint.
Small to medium-sized businesses are now offering salaries and benefits that were previously only available to employees in the iGaming industry. As a result, candidates get unparalleled exposure while still having the option to work in a hybrid environment, receive competitive pay, and receive performance reviews and bonuses that are on par with the best.
From the perspective of a financial analyst, we continue to notice an increase in clients who want to interview and employ external auditors because they are confident that their education and experience will make them a valuable addition to their finance teams. This is proving to be yet another great method for many external auditors seeking to move from a client-facing to an internal role.
In terms of external audits, there is a strong industry demand for these experts. Similar to the client accounting industry, businesses are competing for the best talent accessible by offering higher salaries, benefits, and working conditions. Given the highly alluring salaries offered for these professionals and the continued high demand for these professionals, an increasing number of candidates are choosing to concentrate solely on this field while ignoring the allure of working in-house.
In terms of credentials, a master’s degree in accounting or being a completely qualified ACCA accountant are still needed in Malta. Hiring managers typically look for qualified candidates who are not only completely qualified in accounting but also have Excel skills, which is becoming more and more of a trend.
Employers are ideally looking for fully qualified professionals with MIT or more recent qualifications in Transfer Pricing for international taxation positions for senior tax-related roles.
In addition, hiring managers are frequently looking for applicants with strong loyalty traits, so discovering someone who has changed jobs frequently can occasionally raise questions unless these changes are thoroughly justified and explained.
Security and professional advancement are usual priorities for candidates when choosing their next employers. Given the high percentage of finance professionals working increasingly long hours in their current roles, this will undoubtedly be the case for a long time to come and will most notably be a major pull factor for the remainder of 2023. The elusive work-life balance is still a major draw for candidates when they are considering new opportunities.
There hasn’t been much shift in the traditional offerings over the past 36 months in terms of the benefits and incentives that are presently offered in addition to the base salary. There is always the option of paying for memberships, health insurance, and bonuses based on success.
Given the recent pandemic that we all experienced a few years ago, many clients are now using a hybrid system. Given the positive reaction to this, there is a significant uptick in interest from both the client and candidate perspectives for this trend to continue. Flextime is still essential because employers are allowing employees to start earlier and end earlier, or the other way around.
For more information on the current Qualified Accountants & Senior Financial Appointments jobs market and the latest salary bands, please download our Salary Survey below.