Why this might not be the best time to leave a tax job
As I sit at my desk and watch another January snowfall, there is an anxious buzz in my gut because I’m wondering what 2025 will bring for all of us and especially for the labor market. I wish I had sexier things to worry about, but at this point in my life it’s about trying to help clients and candidates and make a little money in the process. Since I still haven’t found my crystal ball after our last move, I’ll use my best sense to give you a picture of what I see happening in 2025 and what we are experiencing right now.
The labor market is still kind of wonky based on my recollection of Econ 101. Supply of labor, specifically tax professionals, remains low. Demand, although not as high as it was 2 or 3 years ago, is fairly steady. That combination would usually lead to salary increases, again, like we saw 2 and 3 years ago. But I think employers are tapped out. They don’t feel they can give any more – other than the more typical 5-10% salary increase. And, even then, they are slow to pull the trigger. Since I mentioned the word slow, let me talk more about what slow looks like in this market. Companies are cautious about hiring and that’s reflected in how quickly they move the hiring process along. Also, they are trying to find candidates with a 90% skill match for open positions where it was more like 70-80% during the post pandemic hiring surge. What used to take 1-2 weeks for someone to get an offer is now more like 4-6 weeks.
On the candidate side, people are skittish about leaving an employer where they may not like their position, but they feel safe. Also, candidates are still pushing pretty hard for as much remote work as possible whereas most employers are pushing to get people back into the office. I won’t bore you with all that has been written on both sides of this issue. Typically, though, employers are more generous with WFH after they’ve seen your work for a while. You might have to earn more WFH privileges when you start a new position.
As is typically the case, we are seeing public accounting firms rally during Q4 and early Q1, trying to get people in place to handle another busy season. Corporate tax groups are holding fairly steady with their hiring needs. We haven’t seen any significant numbers of layoffs in the markets we are in. The layoffs we are seeing are small and are mostly employers trying to trim off their less productive workers. I want to give a shout out to my dad here, for instilling a strong work ethic in me. Thus far, it has served me well.
I will continue to keep you updated on what’s going on in the market. I rushed this newsletter a bit, so I didn’t have as much time to do a deep dive into anything. And, yes, this newsletter was written by me typing on a keyboard. No AI was involved. Sending you all good mojo for a happy and joyful 2025. I’ll talk to you next month.
To your continued success,
Jay McCauley,
Executive Recruiter
303-730-0100