Financial professionals during the 12 months through January netted the biggest increases in base salaries in a decade, gaining a 5% pay hike on average compared with 4.4% during the prior year, according to the Association for Financial Professionals.
Average base salaries for CFOs rose to $256,038 in January from $245,797 in January 2022 for a 4.2% increase, the AFP said, describing a survey in February of 1,408 finance professionals.
Among the top tier of finance executives, treasurers enjoyed the biggest gains, with their average base salary rising 5.7% in January to $228,181 from $215,887 a year earlier, the association said.
Despite the robust increases, pay for all categories of financial professions lagged the 6.4 percent inflation rate from January 2022 until January 2023.
Base salaries for financial planning and analysis managers and accounting managers — among the most highly trained categories of financial professionals — came closest to matching inflation, rising 6.3% and 6.2%, respectively, according to the AFP data.
Nearly 60% of treasury and finance practitioners said they face a talent shortage within their treasury and finance functions, the AFP said. Close to half (49%) of survey respondents said the talent shortage is “moderate” and 10% characterized it as “significant.”
When citing reasons for the talent shortage, 73% of the organizations that responded blamed the competitive job market, 47% said the talent pool lacks needed skills and 32% indicated that a lack of upward mobility limits the supply of skilled employees.
At the time of the survey, “American employers continued to struggle with the effects of the Great Resignation in 2022,” the AFP said.
“The reasons for this go beyond the low unemployment rate and large number of job openings,” the association said. “Post-pandemic, employees are making health and well-being a priority, including seeking out flexibility and work-life balance in addition to better pay and career growth opportunities.”
More than one out of four (28%) of the organizations that responded to the survey said that talent is scarce because “employees are burnt-out and seeking greater work-life balance,” the AFP said.
Financial executives at the organizations surveyed believe they can reduce the talent shortage by offering competitive compensation and benefits (65%), recognizing and rewarding employees (47%) and ensuring staff maintain a healthy work-life balance (47%).
