The latest annual Global Talent Trends Survey from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) highlights changing perspectives among accounting and finance professionals, providing a unique view of how people feel about their life at work and future career aspirations.
The survey included respondents from more than 11,000 people from 160 countries—including more than 300 from North America—responded to this largest annual talent survey of accountancy and finance professionals on issues ranging from career ambitions, AI concerns, sustainability, social impact, intergenerational collaboration, entrepreneurial ambitions, and returning to the office.
The results underline how the work of accountants is being redefined as they play an increasingly active role in promoting social value and driving sustainability. The findings show that finance professionals are increasingly involved in—and leading—initiatives in these areas within their organizations.
The shift reflects a widening view of what business success looks like, combining profitability with ethics, environmental and social sustainability, the ability to leverage new technology, and the agility to deal with economic volatility. The real opportunity for ambitious finance professionals lies in using their finance expertise not only to report social impact, but also to help organizations create it.
This year’s emerging key themes are as follows:
- Finance professionals want their work to make a difference, with 59% of North American respondents wanting their future finance jobs to assist in environmental and climate challenges, and 63% wanting finance roles that make a difference to social impact.
- Regional respondents were split about concerns over the use of AI algorithms in hiring processes—45%are confident in AI algorithms supporting unbiased recruitment processes, 43% disagree, and the remaining are unsure.
- Social issues matter—70% agree an employer’s reputation on social and human rights is a key attraction factor, and half (50%) of North America respondents identified the social aspect of ESG as most important, compared to environmental (20%) or governance (27%).
- Changing demographics meant that there could be up to six generations in the future finance workforce—but 44% of regional respondents say cross-generational collaboration is a challenge.
- Entrepreneurial ambitions burn brightly for 56% of North America respondents—driven primarily by Gen Z (74%) and Gen Y (59%)—and more than half of overall respondents consider switching to a different profession or career at some point.
- Only 36% in the region say that they are happy with their current compensation as cost-of-living concerns continue to exert wage pressures, and the effects of a global economic downturn is listed as the top future workplace concern.
- Confidence in the ability to develop AI-related skills remains high among finance professionals at 80%, but 51% of respondents remain worried about the potential impact of AI on their jobs.
- More North American finance professionals surveyed reported their mental health suffers due to work pressures—rising to 56% from 46% in 2025.
- Hybrid working arrangements remain the preference of 61% of regional respondents, and 44% say that if their employer required them to spend more time in the office, they would consider moving to another organization.
- Nearly half of North American respondents—46%—expect their next career move to be outside their current organization, and the talent flight-risk demands action on multiple fronts.
“One of the key themes that we continue to see this year is how accountants continue to have ambitions around making a difference on social impact issues through the work they perform,” Jamie Lyon FCCA, Global Head of Skills, Sectors and Technology at ACCA said. “It’s great to see that many say they are actually already contributing to this agenda through their current finance jobs. It’s more evidence of how roles and career paths in accountancy continue to transform and broaden out.”
“The findings of the Global Talend Trend Survey offer employers and sector leaders a wealth of data to consider when it comes to recruiting and retaining accounting and finance professionals,” said Jillian Couse, Head of ACCA North America. “The importance of social issues, challenges with cross-generational collaboration, and mental health impacts of work are all factors—among others—that impact the current workforce and should not be ignored.”
Explore North American regional findings or the full global report at this link.
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Tags: ACCA, Accounting, Artificial Intelligence, career, ethics, jobs, pipeline, social issues, survey, sustainability
