New Survey Finds 2012 Looking Brighter Than the Past Year in Terms of Job Security

In the new “Workplace Insights Survey” published by Accounting Principals, the financial professionals polled were relatively optimistic about their firm’s performance in 2012. The survey polled finance professionals across a wide spectrum of industries, including accounting, advisory and consumer, services, business finance and investments. A full 67 percent of those surveyed expected their companies to win new or incremental business. Half of those polled expected additional M&A activity in 2012.

Budgeting for New Business

In an interview with eFinancialCareers.com, Janette Marx, senior vice president at Accounting Principals, noted that firms are beginning to budget for new business. “During the recession, firms did cut back and people were performing three to four functions. Now’s a good time for companies to look across departments and redistribute job duties.” A full 44 percent of the survey respondents indicated that their workload had increased relative to five years ago and 25 percent noted they were expected to take on tasks outside of their traditional responsibilities.

Fewer Financial Pros Looking to Change Jobs

But despite the greater amount of demands on the job, most of the finance professionals surveyed were still not looking for a new position. Only 17 percent reported they were planning to look for a new job in 2012. “People may be frustrated and overworked, but they look at it as the new normal,” says Drew Reina, managing director of Accounting Principals. While many people are admitting their workplaces are stressful, most professionals aren’t willing to complain about it. “They’ve seen so many others lose their job.”

One Out of Three Expect Raises Next Year

In fact, a quarter of the finance professionals polled are worried about job security and 18 percent expect pay cuts. However, 36 percent of the financial professionals surveyed are looking to get a raise and/or bonus in 2012.

Micromanaging Biggest Pet Peeve

Interestingly, the biggest office pet peeve was micromanaging, and Reina blames regulation for having something to do with it. Some 29 percent of the survey respondents complained about the management style. Gen Xers found micromanaging the most annoying of all financial professionals polled.