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Though the accountant shortage is still a concern, a shortage of AI and tech skills might be a more pressing issue right now. That’s according to a pulse survey by consulting firm RGP and YouGov, which polled 213 US financial professionals at the director level and above this June.
About a quarter (26%) of the respondents chose cybersecurity and risk management as their biggest talent gap, followed by digital transformation skills (23%). A slightly smaller percentage (21%) named accounting services as the area where they most lacked talent.
Talent itself took a back seat to digital transformation as finance leaders’ top concern. Almost a third (30%) of respondents said “digital strategies,” such as implementing AI and automation, was the most pressing issue for them in the second half of 2024, while slightly more than a quarter (26%) said it was attracting and retaining talent. Their third most prevalent concern was fraud prevention and cybersecurity (17%).
Interestingly, finance professionals also saw technology as a solution to the accountant shortage. About four in 10 respondents (43%) said they were investing more in AI and automation due to the shortage. But they’re also pursuing talent-based solutions: three in ten said they were turning to consulting talent to update their finance functions, and 27% said they were using more interim staffing.
Finance leaders also seemed more interested in training current staff than in hiring more employees as a way to address skill gaps. Nearly half (45%) of those who said they planned to invest more heavily in workforce development this year said they’d focus on reskilling or upskilling existing staff. Another 18% said they planned to hire more full-time staff, while 13% said they’d be bringing in outside talent, such as contractors and consultants.