Concerns about the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on their jobs, dwindling career opportunities at home and the rising cost of living are persuading finance professionals across the Middle East and South Asia to look for work outside of their current employer, according to a major new survey from ACCA.
ACCA’s Global talent trends 2024 report analyses the views of almost 10,000 finance professionals in 157 countries and looks closely at a range of pressures on finance professionals and their employers worldwide. Results from respondents in the Middle East, India and the greater South Asia area (which includes India) suggest that finance professionals in these regions are more concerned than their counterparts elsewhere about the impact of technology on their job, the need for their skills to keep pace, and a lack of career opportunities at home.
Around nine out of 10 respondents want more training on technology from their employers
Tech concerns
Globally, the study shows that finance professionals are closely engaged with the emergence of AI in the workplace, with their emotions ranging from excitement to anxiety. Respondents in the Middle East and South Asia were significantly more likely than others elsewhere to say that they currently feel overwhelmed by the pace of change of technology impacting their job.
While the vast majority of respondents accept that AI will help finance professionals to add value to their role, they also have concerns about what it means personally for them: 51% of global respondents say they are worried about the impact on their own job, rising to 57% in South Asia and 63% (the highest proportion in any region) in India. Around nine out of 10 respondents in these regions want more training on technology from their employers.
More than a third have considered moving employer because of wellbeing issues
Burn-out and stress
Worries about the impact of technology are adding to the problems of work-related stress, anxiety and burnout that were highlighted in the 2023 study. Worldwide, 57% of all respondents say their mental health is suffering because of work pressures, and just over a third have considered resigning from their job because of wellbeing issues.
Respondents in South Asia and India are most likely to say that their mental health is suffering because of work pressures, with 74% from these regions (as well as 70% in the Middle East) wanting more support from their employer in this area. More than a third in all three regions have considered moving from their current employer because of wellbeing issues.
Only a third are satisfied with the level of pay for the role they perform
Along with concerns about inflation and the upskilling needed to keep up with the pace of tech change, work-related stress is fuelling a potential talent crisis in some regions. 57% of respondents in the Middle East, 58% in South Asia and 61% in India say they are concerned that they are not learning the skills they will need in the future. Only around a third in each of these three regions are satisfied with the level of pay they receive for the role they perform.
The desire for better career opportunities and improved pay culminates in a desire to move employers, which is particularly strong in the Middle East, South Asia and India. 58% of respondents in the Middle East, 61% in South Asia and 64% in India say they intend to move roles within 12 months, compared with just 44% of respondents globally. When the timeline is increased to two years, more than 80% of respondents in all three regions say they will move job.
In the UAE, 71% of respondents are office-based, compared with just 35% in India
Home vs office
Better work-life balance is one possible solution to career discontent, and the report explores the changing work patterns that have emerged since the pandemic. It is clear that hybrid and remote working is here to stay; globally, only 52% work full time in an office, while 41% have a hybrid work arrangement.
This varies significantly from region to region, however. In the UAE, for example, 71% of respondents are office-based, compared with just 35% in India. But the report notes ‘big mismatches between how employees want to work and how they are working’. 84% of respondents in the Middle East, 80% of those in South Asia and 76% of those in India who are based in an office say they are there because their employer requires it. Their preference, however, is strongly towards hybrid working – the preferred option of three-quarters of respondents across all three regions.
More information
See AB’s overview of the report’s global findings; the global survey results are also available separately.
See also the findings from UK respondents, from Europe and Eurasia and Africa.
