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The World Economic Forum has predicted AI and automation will displace many accountants, auditors and bookkeepers by 2030.
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Accounting ranked as one of the world’s fastest-declining jobs
10 January 2025
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Accountants, auditors and bookkeepers will be among the world’s fastest-declining jobs over the next five years due to advancements in information processing and automation technology, according to a report from the World Economic Forum.
The Future of Jobs 2025 report said the decline reflected broader labour market trends, with over 92 million jobs set to be displaced by artificial intelligence, demographic changes and economic uncertainty by 2030.
The report ranked around 100 roles based on surveys from employers and International Labour Organisation employment data.
In real terms, accountants and auditors ranked seventh out of the top 15 fastest-declining jobs, the only professional services expected to be negatively impacted by technology. Bookkeepers and payroll clerks ranked sixth.
“Broadening digital access, AI and information processing technologies, and robots and autonomous systems are the primary drivers,” the report said.
Paralegals, telemarketers and credit officers would face similar levels of decline as accountants.
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The roles most at risk of displacement were cashiers and ticket clerks, and assistants and secretaries (ranking first and second respectively).
“Ageing and declining working-age populations and slower economic growth” were chief contributors to shrinking clerical roles, the report said.
Demand for lawyers, human resource specialists and financial analysts would be largely unchanged over the next five years.
On the other hand, roles involved in the green transition – such as agricultural workers – and specialists in big data, machine learning and security would grow the most rapidly.
This reflected the report’s fastest-growing core skills list, which favoured AI and big data, networks and cyber security and technological literacy skills.
“The growth of these roles is driven by increased efforts and investments to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to climate change,” the report said.
“The growing adoption of energy generation, storage and distribution technologies, alongside other technology trends, are additional contributing factors.”
The Australian Industry Group, WEF’s local partner for the survey, said employers expected the local jobs outlook to fit with global trends.
“The report reveals a tangled mix of global drivers transforming jobs globally and in Australia, resulting in skill disruption, new and evolving skill demands, particularly in technology-related fields, and a substantial need for reskilling and upskilling,” chief executive Innes Willox said.
“It demonstrates the importance of building the capability and size of Australia’s workforce now and over the coming years.”
But when it came to attracting talent to address skills shortages, Australia diverged from its international peers.
Ai Group said 45 per cent of local employers favoured changes to immigration laws to fill gaps in their workforce, compared to the global average of 26 per cent.
“This suggests the need for migration to be better balanced with domestic skills supply through cross-sector-coordinated planning, improving the identification of skills in demand, looking at regional needs and ensuring those with the right specialist skills are attracted,” it said.
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