S.A. again ranks No. 1 in hiring survey

[sirkingwilliam]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business...ng_survey.html

For the second consecutive quarter, San Antonio was the top-rated city in a national survey gauging hiring prospects for finance and accounting professionals.

The Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index for the fourth quarter gave San Antonio a score of 5, which is the difference between the share of chief financial officers expecting to boost hiring — 11 percent — and the portion that expect to cut payroll next quarter — 6 percent.

San Antonio was one of only five metropolitan areas to record a positive score on the survey, and its score was two points better than the city that finished second — Nashville.

Two cities — Houston and St. Louis — had scores of 0. But 36 others had negative outlooks, meaning more financial executives expected a reduction hiring than expected it to grow. The national average on the quarterly survey was minus 6.

“There is pent-up demand among San Antonio businesses for skilled accounting and finance staff, and employers are accelerating the hiring process when they identify strong candidates,” said Phil Willingham, senior regional vice president for Robert Half.

Peter Bouxsein, Boral Material Technologies’ vice president of finance, said the numbers are not really surprising given how well the local economy has held up compared to other recession-ravaged cities.

But Bouxsein, past president of the Financial Executives International chapter in San Antonio, said the Texas economy has been weakened by the recession, and many financial executives want to see more signs of an upturn before adding staff.

That uncertainty was reflected in the overwhelming number of financial executives in San Antonio — 80 percent — who expect no hiring changes next quarter. Nationally that number was 84 percent.

Still, Danann Smith, division director for Robert Half Finance & Accounting in San Antonio, foresees continued demand for financial officers locally. Public accounting officials with expertise in tax law and auditing and credit collections professionals could have the most opportunities, she said.

[SAguy]

Wahooooo!!!!! Good news for the people who are looking for a job.