COVID 19 Pushes Us to New Normal and 4th Industrial Revolution: How Much Prepared Are the Bangladeshi Accounting Graduates?

The purpose of the study is to show to what extent our accounting graduates are being prepared for the upcoming changes in their profession due to the 4th Industrial Revolution. Bangladesh, with many other challenges, is also experiencing the changes brought about by the 4th industrial. Though we haven’t adopted it fully, in the future we have to adopt it in full swing. There is no doubt that COVID 19 and said New Normal accelerates the 4th industrial revolution. No sector or employment class will be exempt from the effects of the fourth industrial revolution due to smart technologies like artificial intelligence, big data, augmented reality, block chain, internet of things, etc. Accounting graduates who hold middle-skilled jobs are going to be the worst sufferer. So, we are worried about our accounting graduates and want to know their readiness for these changes. We have conducted the study on the basis of 3 research questions as what are the impacts of the 4th industrial revolution on the accounting profession, what are the required skills to face the changes, to what extent Bangladesh graduates are prepared to take challenges. For the study, we have conducted an online survey using a standard questionnaire among recent accounting graduates of Bangladesh from several institutions. Then we have analyzed the data, explained it with theory, and drawn conclusions. We found that our Accounting graduates are not ready for the 4th industrial revolution especially a huge amount of national university students are lagging behind. The study will contribute to accounting education literature in BD and make the students ready with the required skills to combat their future changing workplace.