Finance Hiring Market Update, September 2026: Busy, But Maybe Not As Busy As It Should Be

How’s the market?

Busy. But maybe not as busy as it should be.

Last month I said August and September would be the real test of where the hiring market is heading. August is now done, and I’d call it a good month. We’ve been busy, good briefs are landing and processes are moving.

But if you ask me whether the broader market is strong for this time of year? Probably not.

In my experience, this quarter is traditionally the strongest hiring period of the year. Good market or bad market, from the GFC through COVID and the post-COVID madness, I’ve seen enough of them now to have pretty high expectations for August and September.

And activity is probably a notch below what I expected.

That doesn’t make it bad by any stretch. Far from it. But hiring still remains concentrated around roles businesses genuinely need to fill, and plenty of clients still seem to have roles they hoped to action on hold.

The latest unemployment number nudging up to 4.5% probably supports that read.

And then there’s my completely unscientific recruitment-market indicator: agency LinkedIn behaviour.

When the market feels a little softer than expected, the volume of recruitment content outside of “here’s a role we’re hiring” seems to increase exponentially. More “reintroducing myself” posts, recent placements, client testimonials, little fluffy microphone videos and general reminders of who does what.

There’s been a noticeable increase in all of it lately, which I do think is another small sign that agencies are working a little harder to stay visible, generate activity and perhaps fill a bit more of the pipeline than they’d normally expect at this time of year.

So my read is still positive. Just a little more measured than I expected to be at this point in the year. September will be interesting.

What’s moving?

Senior Finance. As you’d expect for this time of year, definitely active, but employers are being selective. There’s very little appetite to compromise, with searches often focused on hitting virtually every part of the ideal brief, with industry still being a real driver.

Systems & Transformation. Better reporting, automation and finance transformation continue to generate some of the better briefs we’re seeing, particularly in the mid-sized market.

Contract & Interim. Continuing to provide an attractive option where something needs fixing now, but the business isn’t quite ready to make the permanent headcount call.

Industry news

KPMG: what happens to candidate supply?

The KPMG cuts obviously come with plenty of firm-specific context after a difficult year.

What will be interesting is the impact of another 350+ experienced people potentially entering the market at roughly the same time.

The cuts are weighted heavily toward Consulting and Business Services, so they won’t suddenly flood every corner of the finance market.

But some very capable people will inevitably become available over the coming weeks and months. For employers hiring in adjacent areas, that’s worth watching.

AI investment is running ahead of capability

Deloitte’s latest Australian CFO research found 88% of finance functions are now using AI, but only 37% of CFOs believe the investment is delivering value in line with or ahead of expectations.

The more interesting number for me was that 64% identified talent and skills gaps as a barrier, nearly double the level reported a year earlier.

That feels pretty consistent with what we’re seeing. Businesses increasingly know what they want to automate or improve; finding finance people who genuinely understand the accounting, systems and transformation pieces together is harder.

It also changes the way I think employers should assess AI capability. Focus less on whether a candidate can talk about AI and more on what they’ve actually achieved with it. What became faster? What became cheaper? What was automated? What improved?

The buzzwords are increasingly easy. The outcomes are what matter.

As always, if you’ve got a finance hire on the horizon, or just want a straight read on the market, salary or candidate availability, please feel free to reach out.