68% young finance professionals look to start their own business, says ACCA survey

acca-logo-e1432033336925Mumbai, 12 December: A significant 68.1% of Indian young finance professionals have shown interest in starting their own business, with 10.43% looking to do so as the next move in their career, unveils a new survey by ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). Named Generation Next, the survey not only helps to offer insights about what the younger generation in finance expects from their careers, but also looks to educate employers about what are the most important factors to keep in mind while employing and retaining employees.

The global survey with 19,000 finance professionals from across 150 countries included close to 350 respondents from India, aged 16-36, majorly employed across the Big-Four accounting firms (26.09%), large corporate firms (15.53%) and small to medium accounting firms (11.18%), among others. The Indian respondents comprised of 65.1% males and 34.9% females. Job profiles of participants included CEOs, CFOs, Managing Partners, Auditors, Financial Accountants, Financial Analysts, to name a few.

The report indicated that the next generation of finance professionals are well equipped to deal with the change happening in the profession that is primarily driven by globalization and technology.

Some of the key highlights of the survey are:

  • The top reasons for attracting young talent to a career in finance are interest in the subject matter, prestige of the profession and long term career prospects.
  • 40% of Indian respondents believe that their current organisation offers sufficient opportunities to achieve their career goals, which is higher than the global average of 38%.
  • The main barriers that stop an individual’s career progression in their current organisation are insufficient rewards (29.6%), the absence of the roles where an individual might want to move to (28%) and the absence of transparent career paths (26.4%).
  • Out of the learning activities used in organisations, the most effective forms for an individual’s career development is on the job learning, e-learning courses and internal knowledge sharing sessions.
  • Finance professionals believe that technology continues to play the role of an important learning tool which will be beneficial for the individual’s development in the future. The most prominent of these are in the form of virtual classrooms, e-learning courses and online/social/collaborative learning sessions.
  • 93% respondents strongly agree that technology will replace many entry level professions
  • 64% respondents claimed their next career move would involve a role in a different country/region.

ACCA’s Head of International Development, Md. Sajid Khan, said, “It is no secret that today, young professionals are ambitious for quick progression, happy to switch sectors and have aspirations to work globally. They expect the companies they work for to be technology savvy, to have opportunities for them to continue learning and growing on the job and compensate them well when they deserve it.”

He added, “The challenge ahead for employers, large and small, is making sure they provide the sort of work environment, career development and training that the best of the next generation demand.”

The survey unveiled that the most important factors in attracting individuals to employers (particularly in finance) are job security, clear career progression path and opportunity to learn and develop one’s skills. On the other hand, when it comes to retaining talent, opportunity to learn, financial remuneration and job security are the preferred factors, in that order.

About the report:

Generation Next shares insights on the work preferences and career aspirations of the youngest generation in accounting and finance today.

Almost 19,000 respondents under the age of 36 from 150 countries participated, making this one of the largest ever surveys across the global profession.

The report is the first in a series of research activities in 2017 which will further explore the aspirations of the next generation of professional accountants across different sectors in the global profession, and specifically the best practices employers are adopting in attracting, engaging and retaining them.

About ACCA

ACCA supports its 188,000 members and 480,000 students in 178 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. ACCA works through a network of 100 offices and centres and more than 7,110 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through its public interest remit, ACCA promotes appropriate regulation of accounting and conducts relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.

Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. It believes that accountants bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. ACCA’s core values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and it ensures that through its range of qualifications, it prepares accountants for business. ACCA seeks to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating its qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers. More information is here: www.accaglobal.com