CFOs Envision Improved Hiring Outlook for Fourth Quarter

According to the Robert Half Financial Hiring Index, chief financial officers (CFO) forecast an increase in hiring during the fourth quarter of 2011, with 12 percent anticipating adding full-time accounting and finance employees.

Seven percent expect staff reductions, leaving a net 5 percent of CFOs planning to hire, up four points from the third-quarter study and the highest projection in three years.

Ninety-one percent of CFOs expressed at least some confidence in their firms’ growth potential in the fourth quarter, with 55 percent of respondents saying they are very confident.

The index, from Robert Half International, is based on telephone interviews with 1,400 CFOs across the country.