BCAB - English ICA survey predicts two-tier workplace

Accountants are predicting better training and conditions in the workplace of the new millennium, but only for some, according to English ICA research.

A MORI poll of over 900 accountants in business found a two-tier workforce consisting of managers and key workers was developing in the UK.

These employees, according to the survey, are expected to benefit from enhanced working conditions and career development.

But the survey also found a rising number of workers will be excluded from this ‘caring, sharing’ ethos. More people face becoming contract workers, relying on their own resources to train and even re-invent themselves.

David Sheridan, a member of the institute’s Board of Chartered Accountants in Business, said: ‘The coming of a two-tier workplace may seem harsh and it will be felt as such by those who find it difficult to adapt to a new way of working.

‘On the other hand, some older people are now working in such structures and recycling themselves to good effect by developing consultancy services and keeping their skills up to date.’

The results of the survey also suggested the trend towards hiring younger people and quickly promoting them was reversing.

BCAB conference reports, page 14.