Shortage of accountants leads to calls for overhaul of 1990s-era Leaving Cert syllabus 

The shortage in accountants is likely to worsen in 2023 while the wider jobs market cools 

While the number of students studying accounting at second-level has increased in recent years, the number at third-level has slumped by over a quarter since the decade following the 2008 recession

The existing shortage in qualified accountants is set to worsen in 2023, with Irish firms struggling to access the necessary talent needed to support the economy, President of Chartered Accountants Ireland Pat O’Neill has warned.

Affecting practices of all sizes across the industry, Mr O'Neill noted that the talent pipeline problem has resulted in significant attraction and retention challenges, with the problems stemming as far back as the leaving cert.

"The Leaving Certificate syllabus dates from the 1990s, and while major reform of the syllabus at-large has been announced, accounting as a subject has yet to be addressed," Mr O'Neill commented.

Speaking on the shortage, Mr O'Neill added that "It is driven by a huge increase in competition for talent from non-accounting roles; but also a real gap in perception of what accountants actually do."

While the number of students studying accounting at second-level has increased in recent years, the number at third-level has slumped by over a quarter since the decade following the 2008 recession, according to the Charted Accountants of Ireland.

“Many [students] pursued accounting at third level despite, not because of, their experience at second level. Anecdotal feedback shows that many are turned off because of rote learning, the lack of breadth of what is taught and the need to unlearn and relearn concepts at third level," said Mr O'Neill.

Shortages in accountancy are echoed across several industries, however, hiring platform, IrishJobs.ie revealed that the wider jobs market cooled at the end of 2022, with the number of vacancies easing on both an annual and quarterly basis.

However, despite these declines, the volume of job vacancies generated in the last quarter of 2022 was still 28% higher than pre-Covid levels, with this set to increase further in 2023.

Orla Moran, General Manager of IrishJobs.ie, said: “Ireland’s job market enters 2023 in a strong position. The adjustment in the market that we saw begin in Q3 continued into Q4. 

"The high number of jobs available combined with the current 20-year low in unemployment means the competitive recruitment landscape is set to continue in the year ahead.” 

Out of the 39 sectors analysed, nine posted year-on-year increases in job vacancy creation, while only five reported quarterly gains.

Security, customer services, media and health have increased or remained stable both in year-on-year and quarterly terms.

Meanwhile, five sectors have increased in annual terms but posted quarterly declines. These include insurance, which saw a 55% increase year-on-year but a quarterly decline of 11%. 

Jobs in construction were up by 10% year-on-year and down by 5% quarter-on-quarter, while legal saw a year-on-year increase of 8% and a quarterly decrease of 6%.

The impact of recessionary fears and spiralling energy costs can be seen in sectors closely aligned with the domestic economy. These include travel, which saw job vacancies fall by 42% annually and 32% quarterly. Arts and entertainment vacancies were down by 36% year-on-year and 25% quarter-on-quarter.

Meanwhile, retail experienced a 32% annual fall and a 14% quarterly fall, while catering was down by 28% yearly and quarterly.

Sectors with a strong multinational presence, such as banking, accountancy, finance, and science recorded minor falls, reflective of a cautious outlook rather than any retrenchment in recruitment.