ONE in six employees in the South West are considering a new career Finance, healthcare and education are seen as the ‘most secure’ sectors , says the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), which carried out a survey of more than 1,000 workers.
The research has been published to coincide with Office of National Statistics figures out today revealing a sharp rise in unemployment.
21% of those asked said they intended to leave their current job within the next year – and almost a third said job security was now more important to them.
With sectors including travel, hospitality and the arts hit especially hard by the pandemic, retraining opportunities, largely provided by vocational qualifications including apprenticeships, are rising in popularity.
Rob Alder, Head of Business Development at AAT, said: “The impact of Covid-19 has acted as an accelerator for important career decisions, with many people across a vast spectrum of industries facing the prospect of losing their jobs, and in some cases seeking employment in more secure sectors.
“This backs up what we’ve seen recently, with nearly one in three people who’ve contacted AAT about our accounting and bookkeeping qualifications telling us that they were looking for a career change into the finance industry.
“And while a significant chunk of this is due to people losing their job, with many using their redundancy money to fund their studies, others are viewing accountancy either as a more secure career path, or are hoping to gain new finance skills to improving their chances of employability.”
Find out more about a career in finance at https://www.aat.org.uk/