Shelly Ann Mohammed, head of ACCA Caribbean
The covid19 crisis has made a lot of people rethink their career aspirations and futures. As the global workforce continues to adjust to the unique world event, employers large and small, in both the public and private sectors are facing new challenges and opportunities in light of these turbulent times.
The pandemic is shaking up how we run businesses and organisations in ways that mean the role of accountants is wider and more important than ever before. And it’s highlighted how this profession offers a secure and flexible career whatever your age.
Good financial management and business decision-making skills with sustainability and ethics at their heart are more critical than ever. The same applies to digital mastery, dealing with disruption, and the ability to work successfully with people of all generations and backgrounds. This is true whether you’re aiming to be a business leader or start your own business.
It’s this combination of strategic accountancy skills that makes ACCA accountants more attractive than ever to employers as we move ahead, including for leadership, management, entrepreneurial and strategic roles. This means that there are exciting and varied career opportunities for accountants of all generations ready to embrace the challenges and keep their skills up to date.
[caption id="attachment_893130" align="alignnone" width="769"] Shelly Ann Mohammed, head of ACCA Caribbean -[/caption]
For the upcoming Generation Z in particular, developing strategic accountancy skills offers a great launchpad into this world, with a variety of benefits our research shows that they crave. Capturing the unique views of 9,000 18 to 25-year-olds around the world, our new report Groundbreakers: Gen Z and the future of accountancy, with the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) reveals the hopes, ambitions, and deep concerns of this age group.
Feedback of these smart, connected, ambitious yet realistic young people reveals a generation worried about their job security, and their wellbeing and mental health. These concerns are something of a wakeup call to employers who need to show they care.
They also question the motives of business and how it operates. Globally, while 69 per cent of Gen Z are broadly convinced that businesses have a positive impact on wider society, they also think there is significant room for improvement from business leaders.
Sixty-six per cent of respondents believe businesses continue to prioritise the maximisation of returns to investors. Forty-one per cent are also less convinced that business leaders have integrity and do what they say, and slightly fewer believe businesses are currently fighting climate change at 39 per cent. In the UK, just 26 per cent believe climate change is being tackled by business, one of the lowest scores behind those of our respondents in China, Malaysia, Ireland and Pakistan.
From this research, what we see ahead is a decade of opp
