Public Accounting is a Great Environment for Generation Y

The cover of the Fall 2010 Pennsylvania CPA Journal offers a Generation Y Anatomy Lesson for CPA firms hiring the most recent generation of college graduates born in the years 1980 to 2000.

Siting findings from a 2010 Pew Research Center survey, the article notes that Gen Y tends to have a high level of self esteem compared to other generations. The impact of this attitude on their work is that they have high expectations for their careers, desiring to feel a sense of contribution to their employers' success. As a member of Gen Y myself, this was one of the main reasons I thrived in the public accounting environment. I welcomed the significant amount of responsibility thrown at me from day one, and the opportunity to contribute during meetings with clients, partners, and senior managers, despite my low ranking "staff" status. I also had to remind myself, however, that I may have been assigned more basic responsibilities because I still had a lot to learn about the profession.

The Pew survey also found that Gen Y places high importance on work-life balance and autonomy. Face time and career advancement based on hours contributed seem senseless, because Gen Y feels they should be rewarded based on job performance and the quality of their work. Firms are increasingly tuning into this fact, as job flexibility, telecommuting, and work-life balance programs in the workplace have grown over the past decade. A Gen Y colleague of mine recently recounted a discussion with his boss, who called him into the office and noted that my colleague seemed to be "eager" to leave work each day because he would head out promptly at 5pm each evening. The boss suggested that he be more of a "team player" and hang around a bit longer, even if he wasn't busy. This seemed a ridiculous suggestion to my colleague, who felt that working late would only be reasonable if he had additional work or a tight deadline. This sentiment is often echoed across CPA firms by other members of Gen Y. With the frequent performance evaluation process in place at many firms, employees are provided with more opportunities to communicate their accomplishments and detail the quality of their work as evidence of their work ethic. We no longer need to punch the clock as a means of proving our worth.

One finding of concern that was uncovered in the Pew survey noted that Gen Y tend to take risks with the disclosure of personal information online. They are more likely than previous generations to neglect online security habits for the sake of convenience, and share personal or confidential information via social media. Gen Y, as well as their employers, should take note of such behaviors when it comes to client and other confidential information. Firms need to dedicate training time to highlighting and monitoring the protection of confidential information. Perhaps online professionalism and managing your online identity is a topic that needs to be taught at universities before graduates enter the workforce.

While Gen Y differs from previous generations, many CPA firms have been updating their operations and cultures to accommodate this hard working, ambitious generation of young minds. Our profession will be the better for it.