According to CFOs -- who should know -- job security is a major worry for finance staffers, second only to heavy workloads, as Laurie Brannen reported here [1]. If you're among the many who are starting to wonder whether their job is safe, you can take heart from a new survey from staffing services firm Robert Half, which reveals that the job market for finance and accounting professionals is holding steady despite the economic downturn.

The finance talent shortage is still very real. And it's global. Of the 4,000-plus finance and human resource managers polled in 20 countries, 56 percent reported difficulty finding skilled job candidates. In the United States, 72 percent said they were having trouble filling finance positions.

That last result, a jump of 17 percentage points from last year, was a surprise to Paul McDonald, executive director with Robert Half Management Resources. "I didn't think it was going to be that dramatic, and I'm quite enthused about it," he says.

You might have expected that declining demand for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance work would have freed up some finance talent for other opportunities, but any easing of supply from that quarter has been swamped by larger trends, according to McDonald. Highly experienced workers in the baby boom generation are leaving the workforce. And the market is still feeling the effects of the downward trend in enrollment in accounting degree programs in the late '90s, though that trend has now reversed. "Post Sarbanes-Oxley, there's been a lot of press given to the opportunities for students coming out of university," McDonald notes.

Down the road, an SEC mandate of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) -- widely expected, though far from a done deal -- could lead to a surge in hiring.

Keeping top-performing finance people on board is a growing concern for companies worldwide, according to the study. One half of the poll's respondents said that they were concerned or very concerned about losing valuable team members in the near future. Nearly three-quarters of the American sample reported retention concerns.

McDonald offers these tips for ensuring that you hold on to your most valuable people:

• Start your retention campaign from the first interview. For every potential finance hire, "make sure that everyone who interviews that person understands the corporate culture, the vision of the organization, and the career progression that's offered to the interviewee," says McDonald. "By making those things part of everyone's repertoire of responses to interview questions and information to pass along to the good candidates, you start the process of retention."

• Emphasize mentoring. As well as superior-to-subordinate relationships, consider peer-to-peer mentoring. McDonald notes that mentoring "rings" are becoming increasingly popular: Four or five individuals from finance and other functions meet on a regular basis to talk about career issues. "It's endorsed by the organization, and it's not ad hoc -- it's part of their career progression and career development strategy. They talk about their career, they talk about their deficiencies, how are they going to get to the next level ... We've found that it works extremely well."

• Keep on top of compensation. "It's a given that you understand what your competition is paying within the industry and within your geographic area," says McDonald. "You need to know what are the highest-demand positions and what you have to do to offer the same benefits and same compensation levels so that you remain competitive."