Portland CFOs Forecast Increase in Second-Quarter Hiring

Survey finds local projection above national results.

Salem-News.com Business Report

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - The hiring of full-time accounting and finance professionals in the Portland area is expected to increase in the second quarter of 2008, according to the most recent Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index.

Ten percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) surveyed plan to add staff during the quarter and 3 percent anticipate reductions in personnel. The net 7 percent increase is up one point from the area's first-quarter 2008 forecast and three points above the national average.

The local results reflect a two-quarter rolling average based on interviews with 200 CFOs from a stratified random sample of companies in the Portland area with 20 or more employees; 1,400 CFOs were queried for the national data. (To view the national results, visit roberthalf.com/PressRoom.) The studies were conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Robert Half International, the world's largest staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance.

Robert Half has been tracking financial hiring activity in the United States since 1992.

"Businesses seek financial professionals for general accounting, internal controls and compliance initiatives, among others," said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International.

"Sustained hiring in accounting and finance over the past several years has resulted in an increasingly shallow talent pool, and many employers continue to struggle to find professionals with the requisite skills."

Robert Half International was founded in 1948 and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its financial staffing divisions include Accountemps(R), Robert Half(R) Finance & Accounting and Robert Half(R) Management Resources, for temporary, full-time and senior-level project professionals, respectively. The company has more than 360 staffing locations worldwide and offers online job search services on its divisional websites, all of which can be accessed at rhi.com/.

Source: Robert Half International