Well we knew this would happen eventually.
An article published today in Accountants Daily is all about how small firms over in Australia are struggling to hire talent. Now, if you don’t know how these things work usually one of these articles throws out some dire data point to set up offshoring and/or visas as the solution to this issue that has plagued the profession for years now. In this particular case it’s this: “Randstad Australia noted that 22,000 accountants will retire by 2026, and a 95 per cent decline in professional year enrolments, and a 19 per cent decline in accounting graduate completions.”
Most of the article is what you’d expect (e.g. “Small firms report struggling to be competitive with their hiring against larger firms with more capital.”), but then there’s this part:
[Recruiter Christine] Foggiato told Accountants Daily that cost savings from offshoring aren’t what they used to be.
“Wages in the Philippines have been increasing, good accountants are regularly jumping ship for better offers, and with the help of AI, an intermediate accountant in Australia can now produce work similar to what was previously being outsourced offshore,” Foggiato said.
To be clear, wages for offshore accounting staff are still a fraction of what they are for onshore equivalents, like $1-$2k a month for a senior.
We hear Nigeria is a hot up-and-comer if those Philippines salaries start weighing too heavy on payroll.
