Today in Texas with Laurie Canepa and StevenDouglas - "What Does the Hiring Landscape for Accounting and Finance Look Like in Texas Currently ?"

Great question ! September is turning out to be what we have historically seen when hiring for Accounting and Finance in Texas at this time of the year. Over the last month, we had begun to see the progressive "shift" to a candidate driven market. The last week has reflected a drastic increase in new Finance and Accounting career opportunities in the Central Texas market.

Why does this happen? It is for a variety of reasons. 1) It is a rebound from the hires which should have been made over the Summer, but time and personal distractions (i.e. vacations) did not allow for the time to be dedicated to adding new headcount to the team. 2) Once companies close out their Q3 financials, it is a response on how they are feeling about where they are financially for the year. Their confidence in adding headcount is directly tied to how their budget to actuals compares after wrapping up the 3rd quarter. 3) It is the "FOHH", the "fear of hiring during the holidays." Once mid to late November hits, hiring managers and their teams become distracted with personal obligations, as well as their own year-end compliance and deadlines.

Lastly, hiring managers who are in tune with the cyclical hiring trends know that passive Accounting and Finance job seekers will begin to table their search mid to late November for two reasons. Firstly, from an ethical and professional standpoint, they just do not feel "right" about resigning this close to year end. They know it would put their Company and team in a less than ideal position. Secondly, annual bonuses. Anyone who has earned their annual bonus will want to wait until this bonus is paid out, especially if it is material in nature. This is typically paid out in February or March. Therefore the "active" talent pool you see in November and December is not a reflective of the actual population of passive job seekers. You are potentially missing 30-40% of the quality, passive talent who will be considering new career opportunities come 2025.