Industry analysis has found that for private sector professions, accountancy is one of the UK’s most recession-proof.
The information comes from Randstad Financial and Professional, who looked at salary data from 2002 to 2014.
The analysis ranked professions by how the aggregate salary bill for full-time employees changed in that time, taking into account inflation and other factors.
The total salary bill for accountancy was found to have risen 11.5 per cent over those 12 years, whilst other professions with similar employee numbers actually saw their aggregate salary bills decrease over that time.
For example, management consulting saw its bill fall 17.3 per cent to £5.7bn in 2014, having been £6.9bn in 2002.
“Accountancy is recession resilient,” said the managing director of Randstad Financial and Professional, Tara Ricks. “The profession’s comparatively high aggregate salary bill demonstrates accountants are in the enviable position of being in demand whatever the financial weather. During sunny economic periods, they can pick up consulting work.”
“In more choppy fiscal waters, accountants become an invaluable source of risk advice, while the demand for tax advice and audit work is never going to dry up.”
“By contrast, other private sector professionals, such as retail workers and builders, are more vulnerable to the economic climate.”
