Hong Kong's pharmaceutical industry targeting accountants, banking professionals

Senior accountants are being hunted.

The growth of the pharmaceutical industry in Hong Kong is creating demand for accounting staff with relevant healthcare industry experience.

According to a release from Hays, in its latest Hays Quarterly Report of skills in demand for January to March, the recruiter highlights that Senior Accountants, Finance Managers and Contract Accountants are all highly sought after.

“There has been an increase in demand for Senior Accountants from pharmaceutical companies as they continue to invest in Hong Kong,” says Dean Stallard, Regional Director of Hays in Hong Kong.

“Since there is a lack of Finance Managers in the industry, companies are looking for strong Senior Accountants to step up and take on the added people management responsibilities. This has caused salaries for these candidates to increase more than their counterparts in other industries.”

Here's more from Hays:

The recruiter says a number of companies across all commercial sectors are looking to fill the gaps in their teams at the middle management levels, creating demand for Finance Managers.

“The end of last year saw a number of annual reviews and promotions of Finance Managers into Senior Manager roles. This has caused a gap to open up in companies’ leadership teams as there aren’t enough junior level team members available to promote to higher positions as older employees leave the workforce,” says Dean.

“Finance Managers are also in high demand in the financial services sector and this trend is set to continue due to the further expansion of banks into Hong Kong. The pressure on this middle management position is also in part to an aging population and the lack of new candidates coming in at entry levels.”

According to Hays, many insurance companies continue to demonstrate strong growth in Asia, and as a result financial forecasting is one of the key areas within the finance function. “Financial Planning & Analysis candidates are needed to work effectively with other parties to compile reports and provide in depth commentary to seniors at the group level.

“We have also recently seen strong demand for Contract Accountants and due to the lack of supply in the market many companies are becoming more open to candidates with varying degrees of industry experience,” says Dean.