Accountant numbers soar in public sector

The figures come in research by Giant group plc, the contractor services provider. 

The percentage of accountancy contractors employed by investment banks and fund managers has declined from 17.5% to 8.5% over the same period.

This is higher than the average for the public sector which employs 19.5% of the UK workforce overall, according to data from National Statistics.

The demand for accountancy skills within the Treasury, Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England has mushroomed following the banking crisis, says giant. Across the public sector more accountancy and interim financial controllers are being hired to help find efficiency savings.

Matthew Brown, Managing Director of Giant, comments: “The financial crisis has placed an unprecedented burden on finance departments within the public sector, both in terms of workload and the level of expertise required. Inevitably, external skills are being drafted in as boosting in-house expertise is an urgent requirement.”

“The public sector is under huge pressure to beef up its financial management and manage its budgets more efficiently as tax revenues dwindle. It has a target to achieve £30 billion of cost savings by 2010, which will require meticulous financial planning.”