Everyone who has tried to fill an open position knows that the accounting profession is in the midst of a major staff crunch -- and the reasons aren't hard to figure out.
With demand for accounting services rising, opportunities for younger accountants are multiplying fast, both at public firms and in industry (to say nothing of nonprofits, government, academia and anywhere else you can imagine). At the same time, the imminent retirement of the Baby Boomers who make up almost half of the profession is creating a huge vacuum at the top -- and there simply aren't enough Generation Xers to fill it.
Instead, more and more accounting firms are looking to those very same Millennials who have so many opportunities elsewhere. (You can dive deeper into this long-term demographic shift with our two-part report on the subject here, "
But the Millennials can be hard to reach, and not just because they're in demand. Their priorities -- on everything from work-life balance and technology to career paths and community service -- are often different from those of older generations, and even where they're not all that different, Millennials are more likely to insist on them, rather than subordinating their preferences to those of firm management.
With all that in mind, we surveyed the Accounting Today audience in conjunction with payroll giant ADP to find out how they're finding staff, particularly among Millennials, and how they're keeping them engaged. The resulting infographic (see below) offers some great insights into how forward-thinking firms are finding, recruiting and retaining the Millennials who are, literally, the future of the profession.
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