Dearth of CFO talent stalks Hong Kong

This despite rising demand for accounting and finance professionals.

A Chief Financial Officer survey by recruitment agency Robert Walters reveals that finding talent with the right corporate fit is one of the top challenges in Hong Kong.

Of total respondents in Hong Kong, 32% said finding the right talent with the appropriate organizational fit is the top challenge. Securing the right talent was a concern of 22% of respondents while managing employee expectation was apriority for 16%.

The top three challenges CFOs face in running their business were identified as driving the current revenue/profit base, a concern of 28%of respondents; recruiting and retaining the best finance talent (21%) and managing cost (20%).

The survey noted that apart from the pre-requisite technical skill sets, accounting and finance professionals are required to be commercially astute in order to better collaborate with top management on business decisions.

It involved a total of 500 CFOs from multinationals to small organizations across various industries in Hong Kong.The industries included FMCG and consumer products, logistics and supply chain, IT and telecom, banking and financial services, property, legal and retail.