What does ‘mid-career’ mean? According to participants at a recent ACCA Singapore roundtable on the subject, it is less about age than about reaching a significant inflection point in one’s career trajectory.
One seasoned finance transformation leader taking part in the discussion believes that it represents a point where one has accumulated enough skillsets to take a pause. ‘You’re at the crossroads and need to decide what’s next for your career.’
There may even be more than one mid-career point, according to Samantha Chan, international leader at Chartered Accountants ANZ. She suggests that, with career lengths increasing and more people working into their 70s, professionals may encounter more than one mid-career point over the course of their working lives.
‘Roles that once took a decade to reach might now be reached in four years’
Career paths are becoming less linear and more flexible, a shift explored in ACCA’s recent report, Career paths reimagined. The report also points to how quickly old skills lose relevance, citing estimates that the half-life of a skill is now four years at most, with some estimates putting it as low as two to two-and-a-half years for technical skills. Pulkit Abrol, ACCA regional director, Asia Pacific, shares his experience: ‘With automation taking over repetitive and routine tasks, roles that once took a decade to reach might now be reached in four years.’
Psychological impact
The psychological impact of change is a key challenge, especially when professionals realise that their expertise, built over many years, might no longer command the same market value. ‘It can be hard for them to suddenly accept that overnight they have become irrelevant,’ says another participant.
This can be reinforced for the many professionals who regard their identity as being closely tied to their job. ‘It’s difficult at this level to make a career shift because they might need to accept a lower salary, start from scratch in a new role, and also have a boss that might be younger than them,’ says Walter Escaño FCCA, a senior technology portfolio manager.
‘People may have skills that are really important that do not fit into existing HR boxes’
Traditional workforce structures are identified as another barrier. Drawing on their own journey across audit, operations and transformation, one participant says: ‘The market still tends to value vertical progression over diverse experience. But, if we’re talking about a mid-career move, then we have to consider the possibilities of reinvention or lateral movement. People may have skills that are really important that do not fit into existing HR boxes.’
AI as a skill amplifier
AI’s role in accelerating career shifts is increasingly crucial as those who are quickest to take it on will improve their work efficiency, differentiate themselves, and ‘have the edge’ says EY partner Theodore Wong FCCA. ‘The opportunity lies with those who really embrace digital change and move ahead.’
Coupled with their accounting background, which allows them to understand businesses and ecosystems, junior staff can further leverage AI, says Enelton Satria, tech product manager at DEX Digital Technologies. ‘AI allows junior staff like myself to pick up domain expertise quickly,’ he says.
When asked by Chiew Chun Wee, ACCA regional lead for policy and insights, Asia Pacific, whether AI was reducing the value of an individual’s professional experience, roundtable participants overwhelmingly felt that, rather than commoditising skillsets, the technology has the potential to help mid-career professionals unlock the next stage of their working lives.
Finance business partner Simon Teoh FCCA points out the difference between using and leveraging AI. ‘Anyone can use AI, but it’s your experience that allows you to ask the right questions in the right context,’ he says. ‘That is how AI can be used to amplify one’s skillset.’
‘We will need innovation champions to show our staff what the possibilities are’
Magdalene Ang FCCA, director at R Chan & Associates PAC, notes that while AI presents real challenges, it is not the first time the profession has faced a paradigm shift. ‘In every era, there will be change. What we need now is to ensure our people are on the right path and are using AI as a tool rather than a commodity,’ she says.
‘This is something that ACCA can do – to ensure our knowledge can continue to be applied in the real world.’
Support ecosystem
How can professionals be supported as they navigate these mid-career shifts?
‘If I’m advising someone younger, it’s more important to focus on depth. It has to be the kind of depth that AI can’t reach,’ says Lem Chin Kok FCCA, CEO of AiRTS. ‘What’s increasingly important is also the people that you network with.’
According to Jacqueline Pang FCCA, CEO and co-founder of Artius Global, a whole support ecosystem is needed to support job reinvention. ‘We are hearing that financial institutions are hiring innovation champions to show staff what the possibilities with technology are. Some are also equipping their people managers to help guide staff to their next career move,’ she says.
For Kwan Chang Yew FCCA, MD and head of group tax advisory at OCBC, stronger partnerships between governments and professional bodies will also be crucial in ensuring that learning goes beyond paper qualifications and includes experience-building opportunities. ‘Apprenticeship opportunities, for example, will still be vital in preparing our young workers to make good judgment calls,’ he says.
