Deloitte partners
Today is Deloitte's New Year's Eve. EY and PwC's NYE is on June 30. That means — well, you now what it means: whispers about raises, bonuses, promotions, etc. That also means we'll be hearing about these firms' efforts to make their firms less white and dude. Yesterday, Deloitte's UK firm kicked things off, announcing some news about this year's partner class:
The ‘big four’ accountant said 24 of 80 new partners in its UK business, which includes offices in Switzerland, are female.
The figure means that 30% of the prized positions went to women, up on last year‘s 29% and just 20% in 2014.
Overall, 16% of Deloitte UK's 1,054 partners are women. So, while the progress on the dude front seems grim, the firm's partners are still blindingly white:
Deloitte says that just 10% of new partners are not white, below the 13% of the population who identified as being non-white in the 2011 census. But 10% represents an improvement, given that the existing group of partners is only 4% non-white.
I'm sure the rest of the Big 4 UK firms appreciate the low bar. Unless of course they fly right under it.
Public accounting vs. Industry
The debate over whether an accounting professional will have better opportunity in public accounting or industry (aka private) is endless. It's far too complicated, depending heavily on an individual's personal situation, to draw any real conclusions, but here's Ed Mendlowitz of WIthum making the case for public accounting:
Overall, from what I’ve seen, and irrespective of some great successes, I believe public accounting offers a much better future and job security. Regardless of how valuable you are to the company, you are still an overhead line item. In public accounting you are a revenue generator—a much more valuable place to be.
It's a compelling case, even if it's not totally convincing. Public accounting's opportunities come with numerous sacrifices and we've covered them for years. Now, public accounting is going through another talent crisis, where there is a shortage of people willing to make those sacrifices. Part of the problem, I think, is that the profession's idea for success does not seem to appeal to many people. So, if the accounting profession cannot attract successors to keep itself going, does that really make it a more valuable place?
Previously, on Going Concern…
In Open Items, someone wants to know about transitioning from internal audit to operations. Plus, some EY layoffs fears.
In other news:
- Top C.E.O. Pay Fell — Yes, Fell — in 2015
- French finance minister rules out Google tax deal, more firms could be targeted
- Why do we work so hard?
- Emoji Bible.
- Jack Hanna and Cincinnati Zoo director defend killing of gorilla
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