Many CFOs offering more pay to new hires

Nearly three-quarters of CFOs in Canada report paying new hires more than those workers made in their previous jobs. Finance chiefs in the United States also report the need to up the salary ante, with an average pay increase of 10% for new hires.

The numbers, collected from surveys conducted by staffing firm Robert Half, show that companies are willing to pay a premium as they search for new talent.

In Canada, 72% of CFOs report that new hires in the past year were given more money than their previous employer paid, with the average increase being 5%. In the United States, a survey of more than 2,200 CFOs showed that the average increase was 10%. Fifty-four per cent of U.S. CFOs reported offering more money for new hires, and 36% offered the same amount. Also, 68% of U.S. CFOs said starting pay was more than the amount offered two years ago.

These data deal only with new hires, but the rise in starting salaries shows that companies are concerned about recruiting and retaining employees.

“The issues right now are worker and talent shortages in many industries,” Leo Abruzzese, the global director of public policy at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said Thursday during a quarterly webcast hosted by KPMG’s Audit Committee Institute and the National Association of Corporate Directors.

In an earlier survey, 80% of CFOs in the United States said they were taking steps to improve employee retention, and 89% of finance leaders in Australia and New Zealand were worried about losing top employees.

—Neil Amato (namato@aicpa.org) is a JofA senior editor.