Calm descends on recruitment

‘Hiring plans across accountancy and finance remain strong as we move into 2026, with 68% of employers planning to recruit finance staff in the year ahead,’ says Lee Owen, a director at Hays UK.

That steadiness is echoed elsewhere. Robert Half research shows that 45% of employers plan to grow their finance teams next year, even as economic headwinds persist.

‘Professionals who can support strategic decision-making, modernise financial systems and implement emerging technologies will be highly sought after,’ says Phil Boden, market director at Robert Half UK.

Selective and slowing

What has changed is the pace and nature of recruitment. Employers are taking longer to hire, candidates are more cautious about moving, and churn has decreased.

In Ireland, the market is described as steady but increasingly selective. Luke Cullen at Robert Walters says that ‘moving like for like has become more common, as many businesses feel it reduces onboarding risk and delivers impact faster’, especially for mid-level professionals with proven sector experience.

A similar picture is emerging across continental Europe. In Germany, Robert Walters’ Hannah Klan says the market is entering ‘a period of stabilisation’, with flatter growth in salaries and fewer leadership vacancies, but ongoing structural shortages in accounting talent.

Switzerland, meanwhile, is seeing ‘cautious but selective’ hiring, driven by subdued GDP growth and trade uncertainty. Employers are prioritising regulatory, reporting and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) capability over broad headcount expansion, according to Charlotte Jacobs at Robert Walters.

In Poland, digital transformation and an increasingly complex regulatory environment are boosting demand for specialised professionals who can support decision-making and manage risk, says Martyna Baur-Gadzinowska at Hays Poland. ‘The ability to interpret data and translate it into concrete business recommendations is becoming crucial,’ she explains. ‘Employers expect candidates to be knowledgeable about relevant regulations, capable of implementing control procedures and able to collaborate across departments.’

Andy Lee at Trace Recruitment in the UK identifies a hesitancy to invest, which has kept the interim and contract market buoyant compared to permanent hiring. ‘The junior market’s a bit of a mess,’ he says, with employers unsure of how much efficiency they’re ultimately going to get from AI, and ‘disguised working’, whereby people are doing a job and a half.

At the same time, there is some market distortion in the salary levels being offered to newly qualified professionals and those with perceived potential versus ‘real’ experience, perhaps leaving employers with little value for money.

Modest rises

After several years of sharp pay inflation, salary growth is cooling – but not reversing. Across markets, most recruiters expect increases of between 2% and 5% for most roles, with higher uplifts reserved for scarce skills.

In the UK, Hays data shows that over half of employers increased salaries by between 2.5% and 5% last year, with an average rise of 3.4%. In 2026, 85% of recruiters expect further increases, albeit at a slower pace than in 2025.

Robert Half’s figures suggest similar moderation. A qualified financial accountant in the UK can expect a salary somewhere between £47,250 and £58,500, while finance directors may command between £89,750 and £138,000, depending on experience and scope.

In Ireland, average salary growth stood at 2.3% last year, rising to 4% in financial services. ‘Some specialist finance roles are now commanding salaries over €100,000, reflecting strong demand for niche expertise,’ says Vincent Murray at Hays Ireland.

Across mainland Europe, Robert Walters reports broadly stable salaries in Switzerland, modest 3%–6% increases for mid-level roles in the Netherlands, and incremental growth in Germany, where senior professionals are the most likely to secure higher uplifts tied to complexity and leadership responsibility.

Similarly in Poland, while salary growth has largely slowed, with organisations managing budgets more cautiously, and investing primarily in automation and digital transformation, moderate increases of up to 5% remain. The greatest upward momentum is reserved for those with specialist skills in tax, statutory reporting and FP&A, as well as those with unique qualifications and experience combining financial and technological nous.

With salaries stabilising, non-pay factors continue to carry weight. Hybrid working, learning and development, wellbeing and transparency are now baseline expectations rather than differentiators. Robert Half’s research shows that 80% of professionals would trade salary for more paid time off, while flexible working and development opportunities remain decisive for many candidates.

Retention, rather than attraction, is emerging as the defining challenge. In Ireland, 59% of professionals plan to change roles, while 96% of employers report skills shortages, according to Hays.

In-demand skills

Across all markets, demand is strongest for roles that sit at the intersection of finance, data and decision-making. FP&A, financial control, finance business partnering, compliance and transformation roles feature repeatedly.

‘The commercial side of finance is growing – FP&A, finance business partnering and financial analysis – roles where people can interpret data, influence decisions and work closely with the business,’ Cullen says.

Regulation is a major driver. CSRD and ESG reporting, anti-money laundering/KYC, IFRS developments, tax complexity and internal controls are pushing demand for compliance, audit, risk and reporting specialists, even in mid-sized organisations. In Poland, for example, Baur-Gadzinowska highlights growing demand for financial compliance specialists and finance transformation leads as automation accelerates.

Technology continues to reshape expectations, but recruiters are clear that finance fundamentals remain essential. Employers are looking for blended profiles, with ‘finance plus data, finance plus technology, finance plus business partnering’, says Jonathan Koonincks at Robert Walters Netherlands.

Data literacy, Power BI, ERP systems, automation and a working understanding of artificial intelligence tools are increasingly expected, even if few roles are labelled explicitly as ‘AI jobs’.

As 2026 approaches, the message from recruiters is consistent: finance teams are still hiring, but they are hiring with intent. For professionals, the strongest prospects lie not in chasing the next pay spike, but in building skills that combine technical rigour, digital fluency and commercial judgment – the qualities employers are willing to invest in for the long term.