A message from leadership

The past year has been a striking reminder of what global progress really looks like—and what it demands from all of us.

We published last year’s report amidst what some dubbed a “summer of hope.” After the health, economic and social crises that began the decade, millions were completing their full course of COVID vaccines, and economic growth was roaring back. We appeared to be set up for a year of healing and recovery.

Of course, the reality wasn’t quite so simple. New variants and inequitable vaccine rollouts perpetuated the pandemic. The economic buzzword switched from “recovery” to “recession.” And just as we were all ready to take a breath from the constant crises, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shocked the world, threatening the democratic norms that lay at the very foundation of global peace and stability.

The year of progress, then, wasn’t quite as straightforward as we hoped. Meaningful progress never is. It involves surprises and setbacks—and sometimes, solutions that go on to create their own set of problems.

Yet the last twelve months were also proof of what’s possible when we keep marching forward together, combining the efforts, insights, and resources of different people and organizations to drive progress.

Serving clients globally with solutions that are built up from deep, industry-specific knowledge—combined with understanding of local market needs—is an essential part of what we do at Deloitte.

In recent years, as the challenges clients have faced became increasingly complex, Deloitte found new opportunities to deliver on purpose; to make an impact that matters. For clients, this has included helping them re-route supply chains, incorporate new audit standards, digitize operations, or transition to a lower carbon future.

Clients want Deloitte’s guidance and insights on their transformation journeys because of our digital capabilities, innovative approach and a deep understanding of their business and markets. Our multi-disciplinary business model is a competitive strength that allows Deloitte to bring the broadest set of capabilities to clients and uphold the public trust.

In addition to Deloitte’s work with clients, we are also creating the ecosystem changes needed to build a more sustainable future. Knowing that what gets measured gets managed, we built on our collaboration with the World Economic Forum's International Business Council that identified 21 stakeholder capitalism metrics to help align Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting across industries and regions. Over the past year, Deloitte represented the World Economic Forum in the working group set up by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation. This group helped to lay the groundwork for the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), which aims to enable a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability information.

Deloitte is also committed to the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) and collaborates with SMI on its mission to build a coordinated global effort within the private sector to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future.

Finally, we are enormously proud of Deloitte’s new, decade-long, five-game partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to help the IOC realize the possibilities of its strategic roadmap for the future, Olympic Agenda 2020+5, and its vision to build a better world through sport. In partnership with the IOC, Deloitte will apply its expertise in management and business consulting to help enhance and secure the IOC’s digital ecosystem while also delivering meaningful impact to the National Olympic Committees, billions of fans, and the thousands of athletes who make the Olympic Games possible.

Finally, we know making an impact that matters begins and ends with our people. It is their hard work, knowledge, commitment and ingenuity that power everything we do.

Like many organizations, we too have experienced the Great Resignation. For Deloitte, it presented us with an opportunity to re-evaluate the ways we support our people to do better.

We have evolved our talent programs to help empower Deloitte people to design a work life that works for them—giving them the flexibility to pursue their passions and care for the people they love. We have expanded health benefits so our practitioners and professionals can get the care they need, wherever and whenever they need it. And we’ve made significant investments in their mental wellbeing, from offering stronger mental health benefits to introducing flexible work arrangements to increasing paid time off.