Last month we dove into the 2022 Vault rankings of the best consulting firms to work for and the consulting firms with the most prestige, with an eye on how the Big 4 firms fared in each. Today we’re going to wrap up our coverage of the 2022 Vault Consulting 50 by looking at which consulting firms are considered the best in 20 key employment factors, such as benefits, culture, job satisfaction, and work-life balance. I mentioned those four categories specifically because the Big 4’s consulting arms are noticeably absent.
Of the 20 employment categories, the Big 4 aren’t ranked in half of them. EY-Parthenon, which came in at No. 5 in the best consulting firm to work for rankings (the highest among the Big 4), was ranked in the other 10 categories, finishing no higher than 10th (health and wellness). Deloitte Consulting, the most prestigious of the Big 4 consulting practices, was included as one of the best consulting firms in only two categories. KPMG turned up in just one (formal training), while PwC Advisory Services/Strategy& didn’t appear in any of them. Hell, Armanino, which the only people who know has a consulting practice are the people who work there, ended up ranked in two categories.
To come up with this ranking, Vault surveyed consultants and asked them to rate their own firm across 20 factors that affect their daily working lives. The firms were then ranked in each category based on the average rating assigned by their own consultants. Each factor has a top 25 firm ranking. So how did the Big 4 do?
Benefits
NOT RANKED [That bad, huh?]
Compensation
13. EY-Parthenon
Diversity
18. EY-Parthenon
Culture
NOT RANKED [Toxic cultures usually don’t make “best of the best” rankings.]
Leadership
NOT RANKED [The tone is set at the top, as they say.]
Formal training
15. EY-Parthenon
21. Deloitte Consulting
25. KPMG Advisory
Health and wellness
10. EY-Parthenon
22. Deloitte Consulting
Hours in the office
NOT RANKED [The Big 4 will never be among the best firms in this category, obvs.]
Informal training
19. EY-Parthenon
Innovation
NOT RANKED [The Big 4 are old firms stuck in their old ways.]
Interaction with clients
19. EY-Parthenon
Internal mobility
NOT RANKED [A little surprised the Big 4 weren’t ranked here. Maybe better upward mobility in other service lines than consulting?]
International opportunities
21. EY-Parthenon
Level of challenge
16. EY-Parthenon
Overall business outlook
22. EY-Parthenon
Promotion policies
12. EY-Parthenon
Relationships with supervisors
NOT RANKED [Misery loves company.]
Satisfaction
NOT RANKED [Underpaid and overworked employees make for low job satisfaction.]
Selectivity
NOT RANKED [Not sure why the Big 4 wouldn’t be ranked here, tbh.]
Work-life balance
NOT RANKED [Definitely sure why the Big 4 weren’t ranked here.]
As mentioned, Armanino came in 20th in diversity and 11th in innovation. Even the advisory practice of BPM, the 46th ranked public accounting firm by revenue in INSIDE Public Accounting’s 2021 top 400 firms, came in at No. 25 in the health and wellness category.
You can find the full Vault rankings here.
Related articles:
Vault 50: Only One Big 4 Firm’s Consulting Arm Made the Top 10 (2022)
Vault 50: Deloitte Consulting Still Has the Prestige Factor Going For Them (2022)
