A GC reader from Deloitte emailed me the notes from a recent meeting for management on the health of its staff levels. Our source had the following to say:
I’m a senior in D&T (making manager in the fall) and thought the minutes from a recent manager meeting were interesting in terms of HR’s take on attrition. It does match what you’ve said in your column, i.e. they plan for a certain level of attrition, but I don’t think they even want to consider that there could be a cause for concern.
Management Community Feedback
Retention: Previous S. Manager / Manager Practice meeting unity is seeking additional clarity as to where the firm is heading, in the short term and long term (i.e., economics, compensation, etc.).
HR Audit Update: As of the time of the meeting, specific numbers are not known
DWB: Staff complaints, questions, and concerns, are summed up with the phrase “community is seeking additional clarity.” People want to know what the *#&! to expect in these still-somewhat-unclear times. Oh, and HR? They can run their “numbers” in minutes. Why they were not shared is a mystery; a concerning one at that.
Senior Turnover: Managers feel concerned with the leadership leaving at the senior level – potential for additional turnover in the fall
HR Audit Update: Turnover is comparative to 2 – 3 years ago so not considered a concern.
• Recent increase in the number of seniors that are voluntarily leaving the firm when compared to those trends seen in the last 12 – 18 months
• Region is looking at approximately 75 new hires
• Restrictions on inter-office transfers are being lifted
DWB: A lot to take away from this.
1) Managers are vocalizing the fact that people are leaving; this goes beyond the typical public accounting attitude of “good riddance.”
2) Turnover in 2007 was incredible. Do you remember what the market was doing in 2007?! It was a rip-roaring success. To compare it to that time frame and say it is “not considered a concern” is troubling. The difference between then and now is D&T was hiring like gang-busters themselves at that time so the attrition was not “felt” as severely as it’s being felt now. Layoffs and frozen hiring budgets make the recent staff losses more significant.
3) More people quitting now than during the recession? What research expert included that bullet point?
4) Inter-office transfers being reintroduced is a positive point; expect an announcement about this spun in the HR-style of “woo-hoo, now you can work in St. Louis!” And by St. Louis they mean Branson, Missouri.
What to do?
• Create a positive environment for the seniors and staff
• Leverage personal experiences to keep seniors/staff motivated
• Express advantages a “manager” position can add to one’s career path when looking at long-term goals.
• HR Advisory Update: National recruiting expects a good group in the Mid-West. Comparative attrition trends are taking place even though it may feel that the turnover rate is higher than normal.
DWB: Talking about the glory days of D&T audits doesn’t sound exciting, but sometimes it’s enough of a Kool-Aid effort to keep staff motivated. And look! Attrition rates are right where they want them to be. So all of you on under-staffed, over-worked projects? Yeah, this is the type of environment they plan for.
I’ll let our anonymous tipster finish off the commentary:
At least they might try to “create a positive environment” for me. I’d be really concerned if HR actually believes this or if they just don’t want to panic the managers. (Incidentally, I will be leaving after they give me the promotion.)
They’re just making sure they start off the year with the “right” team.
On a serious note why would you let go of tax people in January? I get April, May, or June…but January? Did Deloitte lose a ton of business or did they just go on a hiring spree in India?
this is not tax or audit – the months that you state are not central to consulting services. Government mandates are shrinking in size and profitability metrics.
The tax layoffs aren’t tax?
DEI Promotion. Glass Ceiling is shattering on everyone beneath.
It’s cheaper to hire new accountants in India than in the United States, and the quality difference is negligible. People complain about affordability but when faced with the reality of purging domestic jobs, people get so incensed. Until we see more quality within the US, this trend will continue.
This was obviously a response from an East Indian!
Don’t let your privilege expose your xenophobia. Instead, just sip your Bud and watch some professional wrasslin’.
Truth hurts huh?
Stating the obvious about low quality Indian work is not, ahem, “xenophobia”.
It’s fact.
Obviously never dealt with indian accounts… generally substandard
Obviously you have never dealt with the American Gan Zers who have never found a deadline that they could meet.
Bruh. Is your Chinese made iPhone substandard? What about your Mexican made Toyota? Vietnamese made TV? It’s a global economy. You are really going to say that any accountant who is Indian is substandard? India has 350 billionaires, 3rd largest in the world. Go to any country in the world and you will find princes and paupers. The problem with the Big 4 and many US accounting firms is they get what they pay for and they don’t give two craps about their employees. Top Indian talent is no cheaper than US talent and these firms are hiring the absolute cheapest labor they can find or working people as hard as they can. Anyways, bruh. None of this matters. AI (Another Indian) will simply get replaced with AI or if AI is bullcrap then another country with lower labor costs. If you are a true manager you can work with anyone from any country. Is the problem the teacher or the student? Anyways, accountants gonna be accountants (cheap AF).
> and the quality difference is negligible.
Said nobody onshore ever who has had to eat hours fixing the offshore deliverable.
Gen Zers offer little to no quality at all. For those of us with brains, it’s economically prudent to hire from India than hire the domestic/entitled talent.
No NGO money coming in.
I think they are hiring from India at very low CTC from top colleges IIT’s.
They will give rigorous training, then work with low increment and few promotion, after few years reasons and last “Layoffs”.
Repeat hiring and so on…..
They are laying off people who is not on the PPMD track. No point of keeping heavy career SM if new talent is making to SM level.
Wow just wow
Welp this makes sense now, Deloitte just announced plans to hire 50K employees in India…when is India gonna wake up because their working conditions are the stuff of nightmares.
That’s offshoring … People in india work for 20% of the cost, don’t b*tch around for wanting to bring their pets to the office or needing a real purpose in their job and do the work 90% as good.