Despite Article 50, the Demand for Internal Auditors Remains Strong

Specialist Corporate Governance recruitment consultancy, Barclay Simpson has released its annual Internal Audit Market Report which highlights that demand for internal auditors remains strong despite Brexit and economic pressures. 67% of Heads of Audit report that they have recruited in the past year, whilst 81% expect to do so in 2017.

Factors currently driving the recruitment market include:

Regulation – a high proportion of internal auditors are employed to meet regulatory demands, currently driving demand for specialists in financial crime, external regulation, finance, third parties and risk.

Subject matter expertise – as internal auditing becomes more sophisticated, technical experts are required in areas such as financial modelling, compliance, cybercrime and actuarial.

Regional demand – particularly driven by the financial services industry, as support functions migrate away from London for cost reasons. Within the UK, the Midlands and North have benefited from this, however, support functions are also migrating to Europe.

Despite this, the net migration of auditors remains inwards and Brexit may bring into focus the reliance that UK internal audit departments place on European recruits. Good internal audit candidates remains in short supply. 73% of managers report that it is hard to recruit and this is also reflected in salaries as 72% of managers consider salary expectations of candidates high.

Across sectors, whilst investment banking has slowed, many of the larger domestic banks and challenger banks have been recruiting strongly. The asset management and insurance sectors have also been relatively active, largely driven by regulatory requirements. Recruitment in commerce and industry has slowed with the exception of the technology and telecoms industries. IT Auditors are in high demand across all sectors.

Only 11% of heads of internal audit report that Brexit is influencing the work they are undertaking.

David Jarrold, who heads the internal audit recruitment division at Barclay Simpson, commented: “For many of our clients recruiting high calibre internal auditors remains a challenge. The ongoing pressure from regulation and increasing demand for audit skills in corporate governance generally, is resulting in a shortage of internal auditors. In addition, the increasing requirement for specialist skills has changed the dynamic of the market. As a career there are far more options for those working in internal audit and now, indeed, for other professionals wishing to move into it.”

The full report can be read at http://www.barclaysimpson.com/Internal-Audit-Market-Report-2017