Currently, it's widely believed that the accounting services market is shrinking and there is less demand for accounting profession. An objective analysis of the accounting profession labor market was carried out to verify the reliability of this statement. The quantitative market indicators are estimated by studying supply and demand for accountants. As a result it was found that the labor market continues to remain active for a sufficiently long period of time. The competition among accountants is higher than in other professions. At the same time, both the number of candidates and the demand for accounting specialists are increasing. A qualitative analysis of the accounting profession market was carried out based on the wages offered to applicants and the main competencies required by employers. During the wage analysis of various categories of accounting specialists in multiple regions of the country, a negative tendency was found - the shift of wage to the pay level of the low skilled labor and, therefore, the transfer of the accounting profession to a lower qualification niche. In our opinion, this is due to the depreciation of accountants' standard skills and competencies. In the era of digitalization such skills are considered as not requiring high qualification. To confirm this hypothesis, the employers' requirements to the competencies of the accountants were analyzed. The authors found out that mostly they are limited to the requirements of work experience, a standard set of knowledge and the ability to work in professional programs. According to the research results there is no danger of the accounting profession disappearance, but there is a danger of its transfer to a fundamentally different segment of the professional market of average or even low-wage jobs, with the consequence that the accountant will not be considered as a highly qualified specialist. Averting such danger can be achieved by the accountants developing new analytical skills and competencies associated with the use of modern digital technology.

Translated title of the contributionLABOR MARKET FOR ACCOUNTANTS IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY: CURRENT STATE AND PROSPECTS
Original languageRussian
Pages (from-to)24-31
Number of pages7
JournalВестник ИПБ (Институт профессиональных бухгалтеров)
Issue number4
StatePublished - 2020

ID: 64702837