Unemployed Chartered Accountants

There is an interesting and useful discussion going on at the LinkedIn ICAEW Group at the moment, concerning the number of Chartered Accountants who are actually unemployed and the role that the ICAEW should take/does take in helping them.

As ever with the ICAEW, there appears to be a disconnect between the views of Moorgate Place and some of the membership. Several pertinent points about subscription levels, and the need for global offices have been raised by a number of ICAEW members.

Here is the opening comment by Martin Lloyd-Penny, the full discussion can be followed by group members here LinkedIn:

"Is Michael Izza correct?

On Monday I met the Michael Izza the CEO of the ICAEW and asked him how many Chartered Accountants are out of work - i.e. those that haven't retired and still want/need to work. Michael thought between 1,000 and 2,000 (out of a total of 135,000) and I think he may have underestimated the scale of the problem facing many of our members. Michael's estimate is based on the number of members that request a reduction in their annual subscription due to financial hardship - which maybe is not a true reflection of the scale of the problem. My view is that the number is significantly higher if you consider the numbers that:-

• Are not working at all and in many cases are claiming benefits
• Are having to find interim work as and when to support themselves – and the interim market is dead and there are literally thousands of highly experienced interim managers who can’t find any work.
• Are working part time and earning significantly less than they were 10 years ago
• Are having to resort to other means to keep a roof over their head – one of my candidates who was a CF partner in a London bank is driving a taxi!
• Are working as bookkeepers at £20 an hour in London – when I advertise that type of job I get up to 100 applicants of which 50% or more are qualified accountants.

Fortunately I continue to find lots of exciting opportunities for my candidates but I am not sure that the ICAEW is aware of the size of this problem. I know that they are trying to provide as much support as possible through CABA so I would like to make sure that the resource is being properly directed."

Size Doesn't Matter

Accountancy Age reports that the latest survey of accountancy by the Professional Oversight Board shows that ACCA had 137,233 members worldwide in 2009, up from 131,398 a year earlier. The ICAEW saw member numbers increase to 134,698 from 132,411.

ACCA is now larger than the ICAEW.

Sadly this may be used by the ICAEW as an excuse to dilute the brand by making it easier to join the ICAEW.

A quote by "Peter" on the AA website alludes to the fact that this is already happening:

"If the ICAEW is more elitist as the second comment claims why is it the case that they now allow members of other chartered institutes, ie CIMA, ACCA, to become ICAEW members (through the Pathways to Membership programme) without even taking the exams of the ICAEW after they have been fully paid up members of their own institutes for 5 years.

The ACCA and CIMA would only allow members of the ICAEW to become members of their institutes after passing the final exams of their respective institutes regardless of how many years they have been members of the ICAEW."

EU Branch

AccountingWeb reports that The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has opened its third international branch, based in Brussels, which will bring together all the body's work across the European region.

The new arm will be the ICAEW's third international region and follows the launches of the South East Asia (Singapore) and the Middle East (Dubai) regions in 2009. It will be run by the ICAEW's new European regional director Martin Manuzi.

Not everyone sees the benefits of this, Jonathan White asks "and how much and what exactly are the benefits to the rank and file membership here in the UK?"