Rapid Growth Forecast for Financial Regulator and Audit Jobs

The financial meltdown that sparked the Wall Street Panic of 2008 is something that no Washington politician or bureaucrat wants to see again. As a result there are multiple proposals kicking around Congress at the moment for reform legislation. Banking oversight, regulation of the hedge market for high-risk derivatives and a closer look at consumer services are among them.

The pressure to meet added regulatory requirements is going to require thousands of additional auditors on the government side; corporate finance departments will find it necessary to add additional accountants, risk managers and credit managers along with thousands of other positions.

The U.S. Department of Labor Department predicts that financial examiners and compliance officers will be among the nation's 30 fastest-growing occupations in the next 10 years. In theory at least, compliance includes not only meeting reporting requirements but allowing for far more transparency in financial transactions. That is going to take a lot of expertise.

The Labor Department expects a 40 percent increase in jobs for financial examiners employed by regulatory agencies, banks and other firms to make sure they are meeting state and federal regulations. By 2018, the department expects the profession will account for 38,000 jobs. A professional with an accounting degree can qualify for positions on either the accounting or the auditing side of the regulatory process. Businesses and government are expected to add 279,000 accountants and auditors to their payrolls for a total of 1.6 million by 2018.

The demand for compliance officers doing similar work for government regulators and financial firms will grow by 31 percent to 341,000 in the next 10 years. Graduates with finance degrees will benefit from this growth, as will MBAs with a concentration in finance and business accounting.

The Labor Department, which projects employment trends every two years, said the occupations will benefit "from an increasingly complex regulatory environment." That will, of course, require more attorneys working on regulatory affairs, although the interpretation of regulations often begins at the accounting level.

"Goods-producing employment," referring to manufacturing and mining jobs, "is expected to show virtually no growth," according to the department. That sector will account for 12.9 percent of jobs, down from 14.2 percent last year. By contrast, the service sector is expected to account for 96 percent of job growth through 2018.