Philly CFOs Confident in Biz Growth

But it's hard to find skilled candidates for pro-level positions, they say.

Photo by Morgan Burke, Creative Commons license.

Photo by Morgan Burke, Creative Commons license.

More than 90 percent of Philadelphia’s chief financial officers say they’re optimistic about the growth of their business in the next six months, a new report says.

The survey — Philadelphia Professional Employment Forecast — was produced by Robert Half, a nationwide staffing firm. The results were based on interviews  with 200 CFOs from companies in the Phkkkiladelphia area with 20 or more employees

Despite the growth prospects, though, relatively few of the executives said they plan to hire  to expand their processes. Just 13 percent said they expect to seek new hires; around 70 percent said they would hire only to fill vacancies in the existing staff.

And 63 percent of those surveyed said it’s somewhat or very challenging to find skilled candidates for professional-level positions — and increase from 58 percent who said the same thing six months ago.

“Companies in the Philadelphia area are struggling to fill positions,” said Stephanie Naznitsky, regional president for Robert Half, “particularly professional-level roles that require advanced skill sets in accounting and technology.”