Accountants in demand as interest in overseas work grows

Growing numbers of accountants are taking up jobs overseas, meaning professionals in the sector are in increasingly high demand.

That is according to new statistics from GAAPweb, which recorded a rise of nearly a third between October 2007 and April 2008 of searches for overseas roles, Online Recruitment reports.

Graham Ruddick, Managing Director of the firm, suggested that accountants may be motivated to look abroad because of a desire to gain experience and enhance their career development.

They may also be concerned about the outlook for the UK economy, he added.

Either way the results are not entirely surprising: a recent Manpower study found that more than half of UK employees are considering working abroad.

What is worrying for the British accounting sector is that there has been a concurrent decline of 48% in the number of people searching for trainee and part-qualified roles in the industry, which Mr Ruddick warned is indicative of the current skills shortage.

'The financial sector is already suffering from a shortage of candidates and with many candidates now choosing to go overseas, the battle for talent has never been more important,' he stated.