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Only two in five employers believe that the education system is sufficient in ensuring employees are “job ready”, as the accounting industry grapples with its own issue of inadequacies on the tertiary education front.
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CA ANZ finds businesses losing faith in Aussie unis
17 November 2017
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A new report, The Future of Talent, commissioned by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), revealed that only 42 per cent of employers agree that the current education system does a good job in preparing people for careers in their organisation.
The report surveyed nearly 800 Australian business leaders across various industries, including the accounting and financial services industry.
The result echoes recent sentiments from within the accounting industry calling for a change in approach to accounting degrees, as major universities – including Macquarie University and UNSW – find typical undergraduate courses are not preparing students for the realities of the accounting profession.
“This demonstrates a lack of confidence by organisations in the education sector’s ability to equip the future workforce with the skills they will need,” said Geraldine Magarey, leader of policy and thought leadership at CA ANZ.
“Only two in five employers believe the education system is doing a good job of preparing people for organisations like their own.”
Ms Magarey said schools needed to broaden their measures of success and drop the inclination to “teach to the test”.
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“What’s needed is broader learning, including encouraging skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration and ethical understandings,” Ms Magarey said.
“These are the skills businesses are indicating they want.”
Further, the report found that business leader ranked communication skills as the top attribute for the future, with problem solving ranked second, while adaptability and agility ranked third.
“Communication skills, collaboration and problem-solving are essential human skills, which are extremely difficult to replicate with technology,” added Ms Magarey.
“It’s clear that business leaders believe a human touch is crucial as we increasingly see technological advancements influence the workplace.
“These attributes which rely on well-developed emotional intelligence are needed to make sense of global megatrends and navigate through rapidly changing times.”
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