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Alarm bells raised - one in three future accountants want to move overseas

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Australian businesses wanting to recruit and retain talented accounting staff should be preparing for the emergence of generation Y , who are driven by a desire for greater work life balance rather than personal wealth, an Institute of Chartered Accountants survey has revealed.  
 
The Institute’s National Student survey of 960 accounting students from universities across Australia revealed that up to one in three accounting students would prefer to move overseas in the next three to five years in order to progress their future careers and with 75.5% of respondents indicating that career opportunities and diversification were the reason why they studied accounting, it is expected that the trend to move overseas could continue to grow.  
 
The Institute of Chartered Accountants, General Manager for NSW and ACT, Lisette Cochineas said that these findings were not at all surprising and are consistent with the nature of Generation Y, who are motivated by personal fulfilment rather than personal wealth, in fact only 4.4% agreed that salary was a primary motive for their career choice.  
 
“Today, young people have high expectations and while the Gen Y factor is influencing some businesses to re-evaluate their workplace practices and adapt to new policies including, travel opportunities, further education, more flexibility, mentoring programs and greater career progression, Australia still needs to become more competitive in order to prevent talented accountants moving overseas,” Ms Cochineas said.  
 
The Institute has been actively lobbying the Federal Government and in its pre-budget submission recommended that the government:  

  • Make it easier for foreign students to stay and work in Australia once they have finished their degrees
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  • Change the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) funding for accounting and commerce degrees to make them more attractive to potential students
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  • Make Australia a more attractive place for professionals to work through changes to the personal tax system and
    •  
  • Encourage experienced accountants not currently in the workforce back into the profession.
 
Coinciding with the burgeoning strength of generation Y in the marketplace, leading talent development expert and author of the acclaimed book, Generation Y: Thriving (and Surviving) with Generation Y at Work, Peter Sheahan, claimed that the Institute’s survey echoed the findings in his own research.  
 
“Accounting is an excellent platform to launch a career because of the many opportunities the profession provides, however, employers should beware that just because these emerging students have chosen accounting, don’t expect Generation Y-ers to follow a traditional career path. They are entrepreneurial and want to work for themselves and seek greater diversity, so accounting is an ideal starting point,” Mr Sheahan said.  
 
“The results of the survey are indicative of the expectations of Generation Y, who are educated, innovative and more inclined to be transients on the national and global stage and in a climate where flexibility, diversity and lifestyle are key to engaging generation Y, it is essential for businesses to distinguish themselves apart from other potential employers in order to recruit and retain talented accounting staff,” Lisette said.  
 
Peter Sheahan is speaking at the Institute Careers Conference on the 13 July at the Sofitel Hotel in Melbourne and on the 18th July at the Sofitel Wentworth Hotel in Sydney to a total of 1600 university students discussing choosing a career in accounting.