Job Security Isn’t Enough to Keep Many Accountants From Quitting

livemint.com:

After more than six years working as an accountant, Omer Khokhar knew he wanted out. The New York resident found accounting work monotonous, with little room for creativity or growth, and maximum salaries weren’t as high as he would have liked. “The job security and the ability to have a comfortable life motivated me at first," said Khokhar, who served as a senior accountant at two construction firms and senior auditor at an accounting firm.

“But once I started, had some work and life experience, I realized there are better options out there." Khokhar earlier this year joined JPMorgan Chase as a treasury sales associate in its commercial real-estate banking division. The 30-year-old isn’t alone in his discontent with the industry. Accountants have long been viewed by people in the profession as underpaid and undervalued compared with positions in tech and banking.

Now the foot soldiers of the profession are leaving the field in droves. Accountants cite low salaries, mundane tasks, burnout and the threat of new technology like generative AI as reasons for considering other industries. Professionals in any field may find it isn’t a fit for them, but accountants are moving on or considering doing so at a time of an already widening shortage of these workers, who often specialize in either auditing financials or preparing taxes.

There were about 1.65 million accountants and auditors in the U.S. in 2022, up 1.3% from the previous year but down 2.6% from 2020 and down 15.9% from 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ current population survey. More than 300,000 accountants quit their jobs between 2019 and 2021, data show.