Voices

Survey: Over 70% of young professionals 'concerned' about increasing automation

According to a recent survey via British finance career resource WikiJob, over 70% of respondents pursuing a career in accounting were concerned about automation reducing their professional roles over the next two decades.

WikiJob conducted the survey in response to a recent study compiled by Oxford University and Deloitte, which concluded that two of the ten jobs that could be made redundant in the future were located inside the accounting sector: Financial Accounts Manager (#4) and Bookkeeper (#8).

WikiJob polled 74 of their registered users who were planning on pursing an accounting degree. In all, three-quarters of respondents were concerned about automation in relation to accounting, with 32% saying they were "very concerned," and 40% being "somewhat concerned."

AutomatedJob1
AutomatedJob1

When asked what specific area of accounting faced the biggest risk of becoming automated, over half of respondents cited "Bookkeeping" as the top answer.

Notably, only 48% of poll respondents considered accounting "a good career choice" when considering the rise of automation. Furthermore, of the approximately 60% of respondents who have considered an alternative industry to accounting, "Management Consulting" ranked as their top answer.

AutomatedJob3
AutomatedJob3

For the full survey results and more on WikiJob, head to their site here.

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