Some 43 percent of survey takers say they are seeing increased competition for good candidates compared to the end of 2014, while another 25 percent said they see no lessening to what was already strong competition

The main findings of the AICPA survey were released Sept. 3 with a greater number of business executives indicating they were hesitant to hire for needed positions in the coming year, compared to the previous quarter. This quarter, the survey included supplemental questions about talent recruitment that help round out the hiring picture and offer some comparisons to the end of 2014.

In the final quarter last year, for example, 73 percent of survey takers said they were seeing some level of increased competition for qualified job candidates, with 16 percent reporting a significant increase. In the latest survey, business executives were asked to specifically compare their recruiting situation to the end of last year, with 68 percent saying competition is either increasing or remains at the same high level.

On the other end of the spectrum, 12 percent of business executives said they had no difficulty hiring good candidates, while four percent said the recruiting environment has actually improved since late last year. Another 16 percent said they aren’t hiring, and so don’t have a take on the recruiting process.

Other recruiting-related highlights from the survey include:

• “Availability of skilled personnel” has reemerged as a top 3 concern in the survey for the first time since 4Q14. It had been No. 4 the previous two quarters.
• Some 40 percent of business executives said their companies put plans in place last year to raise compensation and benefits to attract talent. Forty-seven percent said they were keeping their overall compensation packages unchanged for new hires. companies have found it necessary to increase our compensation  and benefits to attract desired employees.
• Most executives (58 percent) say they are on target with initial projections for incentive compensation and bonus payments for 2015. Some 11 percent said incentives and bonuses will be higher than expected, while 18 percent said they are lower.
• A narrow majority of respondents (51 percent) say turnover is not an issue for their organization, and another 10 percent say the problem has abated some since last year. However, a sizeable minority (39 percent) say turnover continues to be a concern.

The AICPA Economic Outlook Survey had 1,440 respondents this quarter, mainly chief executive officers, chief financial officers, controllers and other certified public accountants in U.S. companies who hold executive and senior management accounting roles. More information can be found on the survey home page.