There’s been flurries of activity here and there which has been great to see, but the market is missing its usual consistency and volume. We’ve counted a mere 15 new permanent VAT in-house starters in the UK at all levels between January and March 2021, as opposed to 33 in the same period last year, so that tells a story. No real identifiable rhyme or reason as to levels of hire so far; some replacement roles but also some newly created ones in companies where the pandemic has seen big change/growth. Refreshingly, there’s been a handful that have come in over the £six figure mark looking for specific backgrounds and skillsets – this type of role has been fairly infrequent in recent years. VAT compliance accountant positions remain a rarity.

In usual downturn recovery circumstances, the in-house job market picks up about 6 months after professional services, so that should mean around now-ish….but there’s no such thing as usual circumstances in this day and age! The in-house market outside of the UK remains slow, so no signs just yet that Brexit has made any difference as to where in-house VAT functions are likely to be situated.

Click here to see a few of the In-house VAT jobs we are currently working on.

Brexit and the associated increased Customs burden is continuing to be a headache for many businesses. All the Customs & Global Trade consultancy teams are incredibly busy and most would make a case to hire those with UK consulting experience at Manager/Assistant Manager level. A number of organisations have also set up hubs of compliance specialists to work alongside advisory teams to provide complete customs compliance solutions. The focus for in-house hiring has been largely at the more junior compliance end to work through the increased bulk of compliance requirements, with just a handful of more senior strategic roles over the last few months – hopefully more will follow when businesses have a clearer idea of what’s required in the post Brexit world.

Click here to see a few of the Customs & Global Trade jobs we are currently working on.

This is a perennial issue in Indirect Tax, as there’s never enough people to go round in the best of times – but in the current climate it’s causing real problems. We’re hearing more and more stories of under-resourced and over-worked Indirect Tax functions, and given what people have been through personally over the last year, resilience levels are low in many quarters. Recruiting more talent should and will be part of the fix, but to get it right you need to sell your role to a currently cautious audience. Trusting solely in responses to a robotic corporate advert on LinkedIn in the interests of saving a few pennies is unlikely to find you the best person for the job – and one which often results in recruitment mistakes that BLT are increasingly called upon to rectify. Amongst a good number of inappropriate applicants, you’ll also likely only get access to those actively scouring the job pages in search of a new role; not always the person that will fit the best. Wasting time dreaming that the perfect candidate will somehow spot (and respond to) your advert can also result in the biggest danger of all – a job that the market views as ‘stale’. Give us a call – we’ll help reduce the risk, be honest with you about what’s out there and turn what you have to offer into a more human experience for both employer and jobseeker.

A huge congratulations to Liz Watt who retired from BLT at the end of 2020 after 32 years’ sterling service – have a read here. Liz has set up her own Coaching business, called Liz Watt Coaching, but will still remain part of the BLT family – as she has kindly agreed to continue to run BLT’s hugely successful Women in Indirect Tax Network Groups, which go from strength to strength. Liz is currently accepting new membership requests – for more information do contact Liz at liz@lizwattcoaching.co.uk.

The results of the BLT ‘How are you?’ Survey are in and sheds some light on the experiences of the Indirect Tax population during this last year. Crucially, it also provides some insight as to what Indirect Tax employees expect from their working environment as we return to some semblance of normality.