How many young professionals want C-Suite positions?

Out of those early career staff working in the finance functions of large organisations, 53 percent admit they aspire to have a C-Suite role in the future.

Nearly a third, 29 percent, said they would like to be a CFO in the course of their career, a figure that is considered quite low since CFO seems the natural progression of anyone working in a finance function.

Almost four in five of respondents believe the adoption of new technology within the finance sector will play a large part in their future career choices.

This new research by Metapraxis, provider of financial analysis technology, said that, of those remaining who said ‘no’ to becoming a CFO, 23 percent want to set up their own business using skills they develop while working in finance.

A further one in five finance professionals feel uncertain about their future career path because of the influence of new technologies on job roles.

With the rise of innovations around AI and automation in accountancy and across other industries, professionals feel like they can’t commit to one specific career path because they don’t know if this will always be available.

Since millennials are predicted to be the largest demographic in the UK and US workforce by 2020, their strong feelings that they can’t particularly plan their future career path is key for businesses to note.

Even though they may not know what job roles will be available, millennials do feel confident about the skills that will be in high demand within the finance industry.

Almost all of respondents, 98 percent, thought that data science skills are very important for those who want to remain working in finance functions.

However, those who responded disagreed on how urgently these skills were needed. While 51 percent felt finance professionals should develop data science skills in the immediate future, 20 percent thought it wouldn’t be necessary for another ten years.

This emphasis placed on technological knowledge is not the same when it comes to trade specific skills like accounting.

Interestingly, only 61 percent of respondents thought accounting skills where absolutely necessary to be an effective member of a finance team.

CEO of Metapraxis, Simon Bittlestone, said: “Our results prove that millennials are not of the mindset that you need to be restricted to one career path, and instead a career in finance can be the perfect jumping off point to start their own business or eventually transition into a board-level role.

“Furthermore, our research shines a light on the importance that millennials place on both technology and data science skills in the finance function of the future. Already data analytics are generating great returns, and with the millennial generation expecting automation to come as standard, this impact is only going to be amplified.”