In the United States alone, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021 (the last month for which data is available), and that stat continues to climb. According to a recent Microsoft study, 41% of the global workforce is likely to consider leaving their current employer within the next year, with 46% planning to make a major pivot or career transition.
Driving this trend are myriad factors, mostly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many professionals are reevaluating their priorities. In “Who Is Driving the Great Resignation?” (Harvard Business Review), Ian Cook concludes, “Many of these workers may have simply reached a breaking point after months and months of high workloads, hiring freezes, and other pressures, causing them to rethink their work and life goals.”
The challenge for organizations is to find qualified people with the skills needed to do their jobs so that the global economy can rebuild. In the accounting and finance arena, hiring managers are looking for talent with the ability to think strategically to deliver sound business decisions—and mounting job vacancies show they aren’t finding that talent easily.
IMA® has always emphasized the need for our members to gain additional certifications and focus on continuous learning to improve their career outlook and capture new opportunities. In this current business environment, these goals matter more than ever.
To address the realities of the world we’re living in, IMA recently launched the sixth year of our global advertising campaign for the CMA® (Certified Management Accountant), which includes digital and TV ads, a concurrent public relations campaign, and promotions on IMA’s website and social media channels. The campaign offers a lighthearted take but with a focused, underlying theme: Earning the CMA can give an enormous boost to one’s employability and career prospects. The new ads, available on IMA’s YouTube channel, emphasize that the CMA makes all the difference. The ads tap into the rising demand for professionals who can meet the evolving needs of CFOs and their teams. While our previous campaign struck a serious note, this new campaign takes a humorous approach to the lengths that recruiters, hiring managers, and CEOs would go to hire and keep the best accounting and finance staff—that is, those who’ve earned the CMA. The message is that accounting and finance professionals with a CMA will always be in demand.
As an IMA member, you can do your part too. Share a link to the lead commercial on social media, which can help to raise the brand awareness and credibility of the CMA. Together, as CMAs and IMA members, we can step into the gap and help to rebuild.
November 2021
