Many of the top 10 locations for U.S. government finance job openings do not have a large local supply of such candidates, according to Gartner, Inc. Washington D.C. topped the list of cities with the most openings, with the second largest supply of appropriate candidates. Austin, Denver, Indianapolis and Kansas City, however, all rank in the top 10 for openings but not for supply of government finance candidates.

“With remote working becoming more commonplace it’s time for some government finance leaders to ask themselves whether they are looking in the right places for hard-to-find skills,” said Mallory Barg Bulman, director in the Gartner Finance practice. “There are several cities with a high supply of finance candidates but which aren’t in the top 10 for relevant openings.”

Dallas, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco all were in the top 10 for U.S locations that had finance candidates with the most in-demand capabilities. None of these cities appear in the top 10 for government finance job openings (see Figure 1).

“There is an opportunity here for government finance leaders to quickly resolve skill deficits in their departments,” said Ms. Barg Bulman. “But it’s likely to mean embracing remote working practices that have become established during the pandemic.”

Top Skills
Analytical Thinking (11,067), Accounting Operations (7,934) and Manage Compliance with Procedures, Laws and Regulations (6,171) were the three competencies that were most mentioned on U.S. government finance job listing in H2 2020. These top three together were mentioned more times than the sum of a long tail of other relevant competencies.

The highest supply of candidates with analytical thinking or accounting operations competence is New York. For managing compliance, it is Washington D.C.

“It’s not surprising that such major cities have a big supply of candidates, but they also have high demand for such candidates,” said Ms. Barg Bulman. “However, if finance leaders start to think it might be easier to source the right candidates from Texas or California it could make it easier to hire the most in-demand skills.”

Gartner clients can read more in Government Finance Talent: U.S. Cities With the Candidates You Need

Non Clients can read: U.S. Cities With the Best Government Finance Talent.

CFOs and finance leaders can participate in Gartner research and get complementary access by joining the Gartner Research Circle.

About the Gartner Finance Practice
The Gartner Finance practice helps senior finance executives meet their top priorities. Gartner offers a unique breadth and depth of content to support clients’ individual success and deliver on key initiatives that cut across finance functions to drive business impact. Learn more at https://www.gartner.com/en/finance/finance-leaders. Follow Gartner for Finance on LinkedIn and Twitter using #GartnerFinance to stay ahead of the latest expert insights and key trends shaping the Finance function.

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