Deloitte to hire over 6,000 new auditor & assurance professionals

Deloitte has announced it is set to hire more than 6,000 new people into the firm’s UK audit and assurance practice over the next five years. 

The news means that the firm will hire at least 1,200 new auditors and assurance professionals every year between now and 2027.

The firm has announced that it will be looking to recruit from a range of entry-level and experienced backgrounds and will include 885 audit and assurance graduates and school leavers, known as BrightStart Apprentices, in 2022 alone – more than a 30% 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 and Purpose leader in Deloitte’s audit and 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 and assurance at Deloitte, added: “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.”

Stephen Griggs, UK managing partner at Deloitte, said: “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.”