The fastest growing profession in Lithuania is called the new IT: wages have increased by up to 50 percent.

Large investors have increased the demand for professionals.

The accounting sector has experienced strong growth in recent years, with large investors such as McKesson, NKT, Nordzucker AG, Etex, AmerisourceBergen and Dana Incorporated relocating their financial service centers in Lithuania. created new positions in the field of finance. Existing players in the market, such as Telia, have further developed their financial skills in Lithuania, Andrius Francas, a partner at recruitment company Alliance for Recruitment, talks about the trends.

In recent years, the number of job offers for financial professionals has doubled, from 260 ads per month in 2015. Up to 520 ads per month in 2019, according to data from specialized search portal CV-Online. Accountants have recently received special attention, accounting for a third of all job openings in the financial field.

Accountants are sought after by a variety of companies in terms of size and capital, but often large, foreign-owned companies need more than just accountants. According to the number of vacancies for the search of employees in the field of finance, the leaders are large companies of banking, insurance, financial, consulting and accounting services. Almost 80 percent. The jobs in the field of finance that are offered on the CVonline.lt website are available in Vilnius.

Currently, as you can see, we are looking for experienced accountants (with 3-5 years experience) and top accountants, who may have 7 years experience.

“Experienced accountants can take over the job right away and without them the organizational structure cannot be established. The younger specialists after university are also suitable, they don’t have experience yet, they have a solid theoretical base, they may have completed an internship somewhere, they speak English well, it is really easier to find them, “says A. Francas.

Wages increased extremely fast

International companies, which entered the Lithuanian market almost simultaneously, increased competition for accounting specialists, and this was reflected in the salaries of employees in this field. Last year, according to the Recruitment Alliance, by job title, their wages increased from 10 to 50 percent.

The main accountants received the largest increase in salaries (49%): their remuneration last year increased from EUR 988–1368 to EUR 1,500–2000 “in the hands” (comparing data from 2018 and 2019 – “Delfi”).

Accounting team leaders’ salaries increased 30 percent. – from 1444-2014 euros to 2000-2500 euros “in the hands”.

The remuneration of the youngest increased by 10 percent. – from 588-725 euros to 650-800 euros “on hand”.

Mid-level accountants: 20 percent. – from 725 to 1026 euros to 800 to 1300 euros “in the hands”.

According to data from the specialized search portal CV-Online and Manoalga.lt, the average salary of employees in the field of finance has increased this year, by 16 percent. Valuation of the period from January 1. Until June 10, 2010, the average salary of employees in the field of finance was 1135 euros “on hand”, the average in 2019 was 974 euros “on hand”.

According to CV-Online, salaries of employees in the field of finance in international companies are on average 15%. higher than in Lithuanian capital companies.

Salaries for employees in the field of finance are among the highest compared to employees in other fields, they are earned more by managers, employees in the fields of IT, telecommunications, law, pharmaceuticals, banking and quality, says the marketing manager of CV-Online.

This year, the salary will grow by 10 percent.

“Wages will certainly not grow as much this year, but in this market wage growth will be higher than in the single market, which is forecast at 5-6%. It is safe to speak of 10%. accounting specialists “, – predicts A. Francas.

The graph shows the change in salary for employees with good English language skills. Employees who speak an additional foreign language from Western Europe can expect even higher wages. Depending on the language, the additional fee can vary from 100 to 200 euros.

In some Lithuanian companies that do not require English skills, accountants’ salaries are lower. However, competition is also felt here.

“Competition in international companies naturally stimulated competition in Lithuanian companies as well. As part of the English speaking people went to international companies, naturally there were vacancies in companies with Lithuanian capital, “says the interlocutor.

Candidates lack foreign language skills

According to the head of the Recruitment Alliance, as the demand for financial specialists increases, the supply still needs time to grow.

“Generally, there are more young professionals than experienced professionals, and young people have to earn a place in the sun. Sometimes they lack basic skills like English language skills to work in international companies. They communicate less and maybe they don’t. they need, “says Francas.

Today, as he points out, there is a growing need not only for English-speaking financial professionals, but also for another foreign language in Western Europe, especially Scandinavian and major countries such as France and Germany.

“In addition to English and Lithuanian, they receive an additional language for each additional language cousin. These are mainly Western European languages, because international companies are located in Western Europe. This is for Russian, Lithuanian, or English bonds nobody gives

“You don’t need to speak a second language fluently if you know it well, can write and communicate; this would be a real advantage and would have a significant competitive advantage, as there are far fewer people on the market than those who only speak English,” he said. .

However, there is also a lack of accountants who speak only Lithuanian and English. According to Franco, there are several ways: “Experienced accountants can invest in their skills because companies do not have time to invest in good English for their employees: it takes half a year or even a year and a company needs to work for two weeks.” So it can be said that the job of a school, college or university was to teach language skills. “

The Alliance for Recruitment partner points out that colleges and universities can train financial professionals, but there are questions about quality, as the quality of foreign language skills is an important factor.

“Our characters write ten, and in fact they do not smell at all ten. Those evaluation criteria must be harmonized, because today ten in one university is not equal to eight in another university, although the same educational system,” says the interviewee.

Accounting: the new IT

According to Franco, post-IT accounting is the fastest growing area, although the wage gap between these areas is large.

“Accountants will never earn that much, but the fact is, these people can really have a secure future and earn a competitive salary that they didn’t have before.

“It just came to our attention then. We can talk about site automation, but certainly not everything can be robotized. In a broad sense, there will still be a need for professionals in this profession. As this sector grows together in Lithuania, we see good perspectives ”, emphasizes the head of the Alliance for recruitment.

What impact will the coronary crisis have?

Even the coronary crisis did not have a major impact on IT and finances. Franc says the recruiting company hired staff in mid-April of the pandemic.

“It doesn’t matter that market demand has fallen 20 percent, but still the percentage of demand is higher than what the market can really meet,” he explains.

The lower demand is also reflected in the data from the specialized search portal CV-Online. If at the beginning of the year, in January and February, almost 500 ads were placed in the field of finance, in March and April their number fell by almost half: 278 and 247 ads, respectively. A little more announcements were registered in May (290).

“The number of job openings in the financial field decreased at the beginning of quarantine, but not as dramatically as in the fields of tourism or customer service, for example, and the number of job openings in the financial field is probably the faster, “says Rita Karavaitienė, CV-Online Marketing Manager.

However, this year there will be no such sudden increase in the need for financial specialists: “In any case, the need is that organizations are growing and competencies will be needed to forecast the next few years. The service center sector grew 14 percent last year. Many new jobs have been created and there are more than 19,000 in our market. professionals in this field. “

Lithuania has changed the Indian market

This year, the need for accounting specialists will continue to grow because, as A. Francas points out, teleworking is gaining more shadow, positivity, and employer support not only in Lithuania, but also worldwide.

“In Lithuania, compared to other countries, such as India, which is attractive for relocating jobs, we have the opportunity to relocate jobs at home. Most Lithuanian service centers did exactly that: they provided equipment, the internet, etc. that is , that workers can work from home and in India there is no such possibility: either there is no electricity, no internet, or there are no home conditions where they can work professionally.

When the Mumbai region, which is currently at its peak, the highest number of infections, was quarantined, everything was closed: people cannot work from the office, but they cannot work from home either. At that time, the most expensive countries, like Lithuania, “unite” and solve problems. Also, what we have heard from customers and the quality of service is much better than in India. This is a good opportunity to self-assess the quality of our Lithuanian employees: speed and professionalism ”, emphasizes the interlocutor.