We sometimes like musical references on this blog and one seems pretty appropriate, given the explosion in job vacancies.
Soul legend Marvin Gaye asked the question: ‘What’s Going On’ with his 1971 hit.
The answer today is that a jobs boom is what’s going on. The number of vacancies in August has topped one million for the first time since records began in 2001, taking us back to pre-pandemic levels, which is something few, if any, were predicting.
Vacancies have hit a record high as the economic recovery continues, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The number of vacancies will be good news as the furlough scheme comes to an end at the end of this month, with fears of more redundancies mitigated by the boom in vacancies.
Business groups said, however, despite the return of staffing levels to pre-pandemic rates there remained high demand for more staff, and there was a risk that labour shortages would affect economic growth.
The dilemma for accountancy firms struggling to cover shortages inspires another musical question posed by Ray Parker Junior of Ghostbusters fame: ‘Who You Gonna Call’? Well, not Ghostbusters, but outsourcers are a key solution for those accountants struggling to cope.
Outsourcing to a third party has many advantages and, in many ways, becomes more of a partnership than a straightforward business relationship.
It is like a kind of osmosis, intertwining and delivering the needs of the client through the expertise of the supplier.
Many clients see it that way.
Bodmin-based Cornish Accounting Solutions is a long-term client of GI Outsourcing and their managing director Paul Miller has no doubt about the importance of that relationship.
He said: “What we love about the GI model is that it is a partnership in the true sense of the word. We are in this together and we are looking to create mutual benefit for both parties,” says Paul.
The firm began its partnership with GI through the flexible pay-as-you-go model, before moving to the Dedicated Resource Model (DRM), which sees it benefit from a dedicated member
of the GI team.
“What I love about the DRM model is that it is as if you have an employee in your office and you can allocate and prioritise the jobs.
“Having a good relationship with GI, I was able to ask my client manager, after losing a couple of team members, whether GI could take on more jobs for us and lo and behold they had the capacity to add pay-as-you-go jobs to our existing DRM work.”
This is an example of how a different set of ideas structuring the relationship between the firm and the work carried out, as a result of outsourcing, can help firms deal with challenges such as bottlenecks in workflow or skills shortages.
Whether routine compliance through to the very latest in cloud technology our team of experts can partner your firm to the next level of success in a dedicated, professional and friendly way.
In other words, as Carole King (and James Taylor) once sang: ‘You’ve Got a Friend.’
Contact our UK-based team of account managers today to find out how we can help your firm.
