Have you read the recent article “Big Four Focus on Practice Management at the ASA Fair Value Conference” from the June 2024 BV Update? We did and felt there needed to be some response!
There is a theme throughout the article about how “offshoring” is a necessary evil. Not only does the Big 4 engage in offshoring largely to reduce costs (they’re complaining about the salary hikes that they have been at the forefront of pushing), but also, they are complaining that “low cost” providers are coming in and undercutting them with the help of “offshore” resources.
The terminology itself is dismissive — “offshoring” implies an “us vs. them” mentality. Off Western shores, sure but the work is just as meaningfully arriving at the shores of other countries where other real professionals live and toil every day.
Not surprisingly, turnover is one of the key factors pointed to as an obstacle for offshoring. Perhaps focusing on cost containment isn’t conducive to employee morale. One of the panel participants even joked that their offshore practice would be all replaced by AI. Not only is this incorrect, it lacks both compassion and insight. No wonder turnover is an issue.
We don’t believe that Global Talent Sourcing should be so readily dismissed. It is not a necessary evil to reduce cost, but rather a superpower for transformative change in the realm of finding talent. The article cites its research that almost 90% of firms are either partly or fully remote. Global talent, of which the US is an integral part, is the way forward for firms of any size. With communications technology, even small firms like mine have access to talent anywhere they live.