Boston CFOs Forecast Increase in First-Quarter Hiring

Published on Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Survey Finds Local Projection Above National Results

BOSTON -- The hiring of full-time accounting and finance professionals in the Boston area is expected to increase in the first quarter of 2009, according to the most recent Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index. Eight percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) surveyed plan to add staff during the quarter and 2 percent anticipate reductions in personnel. The net 6 percent increase is up five points from the area’s fourth-quarter 2008 forecast and five points above the national average.

The local results reflect a two-quarter rolling average based on interviews with 200 CFOs from a stratified random sample of companies in the Boston area with 20 or more employees; 1,400 CFOs were queried for the national data. (To view the national results, visit www.roberthalf.com/PressRoom.) The studies were conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Robert Half International, the world’s first and largest staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance. Robert Half has been tracking financial hiring activity in the United States since 1992.

“Local demand for highly skilled accounting and finance professionals remains steady,” said Bill Driscoll, district president for Robert Half International. “Positions that help firms keep an eye on their bottom line -- including tax accountants, budget analysts and financial analysts -- are the focus right now.”

Robert Half International was founded in 1948 and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its financial staffing divisions include Accountemps, Robert Half Finance & Accounting and Robert Half Management Resources, for temporary, full-time and senior-level project professionals, respectively. The company has more than 360 staffing locations worldwide and offers online job search services on its divisional websites, all of which can be accessed at www.rhi.com.