Some professions simply aren’t attractive to young people, even though they sometimes have exactly the advantages that Zoomers value.
Which profession is it about? The profession of tax consultant is considered one of the most boring jobs there is – especially among Generation Z (also called Zoomers). This is evident from one of the Haufe Group studies from 2022, in which almost 1,300 young people living in Germany who were born after 1997 were surveyed.
The study shows that Generation Z sees the tax consulting industry as “boring, monotonous, and complex.” Especially among female respondents, interest in the profession is very low – only 12% could imagine working in tax consulting.
Why is there hope for the profession? Generation Z places a high value on good pay, a balanced work-life balance, and high job security. Especially the latter is a significant advantage of tax consulting, as the industry suffers from a severe shortage of skilled workers.
The English-language magazine Fortune reports that in the USA, about 340,000 tax consultants have retired in the past 5 years. Additionally, it is expected that 75% of tax consultants will retire in the next 10 years. This simplifies entry into the profession. A professor of accounting revealed, for example, that 98% of his graduates have a job in the field.
So there is hope for tax consulting firms to overcome the shortage of skilled workers, but they need to show Generation Z the advantages of the profession and that it is not as boring as many young people think.
What is “exciting” about the profession? For young people, it can be exciting to see that the job indeed involves working with people and not just with dry numbers, helping clients.
In the USA, there is a program where students from California State University voluntarily help taxpayers with their tax returns. According to the program director, this also sparks interest among students from other subjects to join the program (via Fortune).
In the program, students are thrown into the deep end and see what the work looks like in practice. They also have to deal with clients with complicated tax issues. Generally, much of the calculation work would be taken over by technologies like artificial intelligence, and for tax consultants, developing strategies is an important part of daily work.
Of course, it’s not just a lack of interest in the job of a tax consultant that some young people experience. Some simply lack the finesse in dealing with money. They cannot or do not want to save: Almost half of Gen Z considers saving pointless, prefers to spend money, and does not plan for emergencies
