A new conversation starter from Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) aims to spark discussion about the workforce challenges and opportunities that audit firms currently face.

It takes an unflinching look at the obstacles for those seeking to recruit and retain a fully resourced audit workforce. Audit leaders from Australia and NZ reflect on the obstacles they face, as well as some of the solutions they are exploring.

Along the way, we explore audit firms’ steep peaks in workload, technology disruption, and regulatory pressures. There’s also discussion about the changing career expectations of young auditors, the skills that audit firms will require in future, and how to achieve workforce diversity.

The publication includes expert insights from audit leaders in large and small firms, as well as the public sector. And there are details of how CA ANZ is working towards systemic solutions to the talent challenges that the audit profession is grappling with.

“We want to spark a profession wide conversation about people in audit – what attracts or repels them, how to keep them or have them come back into the fold, and where they find meaning in their work and a lifelong calling,” says Amir Ghandar FCA, Assurance and Reporting Leader at CA ANZ. “The work auditors do is more important than ever bringing integrity in the information age, and there are enormous opportunities but also challenges ahead for the profession”.