New year, new faces: More CFOs plan to add staff in 2011

Time is running out for your company to snatch up some of the finance talent that’s available. Two new studies found that an increasing number of CFOs have hiring plans in 2011.

Bank of America’s annual CFO Outlook found that 47% of finance chiefs said they expect to add staff in 2011. That’s a 28% increase from the 19% of CFOs who said they’d be hiring at the start of 2010.

Another positive sign: Just 6% of CFOs said they expect layoffs in upcoming year — down from the 9% who said so last year.

A recent hiring index report from Robert Half also found that an increasing number of CFOs have hiring plans in 2011. According to the Robert Half report, a net 2% of finance chiefs said they planned to hire accounting and finance employees in the first quarter of 2011. That’s the largest net percentage in more than years.

What type of finance staffers will CFOs be looking to bring on board? According to Robert Half’s New England District President Bill Driscoll, most finance departments are looking to add financial analysts, business system analysts and senior accountants. Driscoll dubbed these positions a company’s “core bread-and-butter.”