Deloitte set to hire more than 6,000 new auditors and assurance professionals

• Over 1,200 people to be hired every year between 2022 and 2027
• More than half of these expected to be hired outside of London
• £125m to be invested in audit quality over the next five years

Deloitte has announced it is set to hire more than 6,000 new people into the firm’s UK Audit & Assurance practice over the next five years. This is at least 1,200 new auditors and assurance professionals every year between now and 2027.

The firm will be looking to recruit from a range of entry-level and experienced backgrounds.* This includes 885 audit & assurance graduates and school leavers (known as BrightStart Apprentices) in 2022 alone – more than a 30 per cent increase on the prior year. More than half of these (57%) will be based outside of London across the UK’s nations and regions and they will all work and be trained in a range of areas critical to audit including climate, data, cyber, emerging technologies and analytics.

This year the firm has also opened over 750 vacancies across various qualified levels (including those chartered accountant ACA, ACCA, CA, ICAS or equivalent qualified) across the UK.

Katie Houldsworth, UK People & Purpose Leader in Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance business, said: “The future of audit comes down to the people in our profession. As the expectations on modern businesses and corporate reporting continue to evolve – including into vital non-financial areas like climate – so too must our auditors.

“We have never seen such a high demand for our audit and assurance services. We're not looking just for 'traditional' accountants – building cyber and sustainability skills within our business are key to the future of audit – so we continue to evolve our hiring processes to ensure we attract the best range of talent from all backgrounds.”**

Over half of the 6,000 people are expected to be recruited from outside of London.*** In addition to these hires, Deloitte UK will invest more than £125m in the firm’s audit product and quality improvements, as well as on learning and development for the audit and assurance teams.

Paul Stephenson, UK Managing Partner for Audit & Assurance at Deloitte, said: “While there has been a great deal of scrutiny around the profession in recent years, it’s also highlighted the importance of what auditors do and the important role we play in the capital markets. I really do believe that being an auditor represents an opportunity to see deeply into businesses like few other professions. Our work enhances trust in the companies we audit, helping the capital markets function with greater confidence.

“Deloitte is committed to offering world class training and development, which we hope provides a rewarding career, and means we can attract auditors and business leaders of the future. Alongside a range of initiatives – including announcing our people can choose when, where and how they work – we’re confident we can continue to attract the brightest and the best to our teams.”

Stephen Griggs, UK managing partner at Deloitte added: “As part of our ongoing support for wider audit and corporate governance reform - we have made, and continue to make, significant changes to our firm. This includes launching our independent audit governance board, ring fencing our audit business three years before the deadline for operational separation, and investing significantly in the development of our audit processes and technology. Audit remains a fundamental part of Deloitte’s brand and today’s announcement demonstrates the firm’s commitment to our newly ring-fenced audit business both today, and in the future.”

More information on the firm’s audit & assurance roles can be found here and applications can be submitted here. All the roles will be open to flexible working and Deloitte also welcomes applications from employees interested in working part-time.

Over the past year Deloitte brought in a series of measures to attract and retain the best and brightest talent. Last summer the firm introduced a hybrid work model, Deloitte Works, allowing its people to decide when, where and how they deliver their best work for clients. Earlier this year Deloitte announced flexible public holiday leave for all UK staff, providing them with additional choice.

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Notes to Editors

*Experienced hire candidates in this context refer mainly to chartered accountants – ACA, ACCA, CA, ICAS or equivalent qualified – although this depends on the exact role required.

About Deloitte’s school leavers BrightStart programme

Our BrightStart Apprenticeship programme allows people to work towards professional qualifications while also getting hands-on experience in the workplace, as an alternative to a traditional university education.

**To attract the most diverse talent, Deloitte continues to evolve its hiring processes. For example, early careers candidates no longer need to create a presentation at final stage interviews, to remove barriers at the application stage. The firm also launched a new, interactive preparation guide in 2021 to ensure all students applying have access to the same support which has so far been downloaded over 6,000 times.

The firm has collaborated with over 25 professional services firms since 2016 under the Access Accountancy Programme. This programme is dedicated to improving access to the accountancy profession in the UK for all, regardless of their background, via Deloitte’s Aspire Programme which is available for Year 12 students who come from low socio-economic backgrounds.

See here how wide-ranging a career in audit and assurance at Deloitte can be from the eyes of three of our professionals.

***Deloitte operates across 22 locations in the UK with offices in major cities including Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Reading and London. Each of the offices outside London serve our national and international clients, but also have a specific objective to support growth across the UK by recruiting locally and advising business in their region. In addition to our London teams, Deloitte currently has over 10,000 people based in the UK’s regions and nations across the firm.

About Deloitte

In this press release references to “Deloitte” are references to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”) a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity.

Please see deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

Deloitte LLP is a subsidiary of Deloitte NSE LLP, which is a member firm of DTTL, and is among the UK's leading professional services firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

For more information, please visit www.deloitte.co.uk