Polish accountants struggle to attract young staff
The firms said that their inability to attract dynamic staff is hurting the quality of the work they produce and therefore hindering their ability to win new clients.
"We are getting older people, often less qualified who lack competence," said Ryszard Pietrzak, owner of accounting firm Biuro Powierniczo-Ksiegowe Adiutor in Warsaw. "Young people go where they are offered a good-sized salary."
Multinational companies, and particularly the Big-Six accounting firms such as Ernst & Young, Arthur Andersen or KPMG lure young accountants and auditors with benefits as well as salary. Oftentimes they can invest a significant amount of time and resources into training inexperienced staff and also have the added benefit of giving star employees international assignments.
Young graduates who studied finance, law or economics have fairly demanding salary requirements, the Polish firms said. According to a 1997 salary survey by international student group AIESEC, students from one of the more prestigious business schools, the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), expect to bring home a starting gross salary of zl. 2,865 per month. They also want that figure, which is more than double the average wage here, to jump to zl 3,845 after one year.
It is a price international accounting firms said they are prepared to pay.
"Those are the rates we talk about (with candidates)," said Gralyna Kania, training and recruitment manager at KPMG.
Kania said that about 75% of KPMG's staff is under 30. The firm hires an average of 60-70 new employees each year, which attracts applications from about 800 graduates, she said.
That level, however, is too high for Polish accounting firms, who usually charge much lower fees for their work and therefore do not pull in the kind of revenue the Big-Six firms see.
"I can't promise a young candidate that in three years I'll pay him zl. 3,000-zl. 4,000," Pietrzak said. "I just can't."
To pay that much the company would need to charge at least four times its zl. 50 per hour consulting fee, Pietrzak added. That, however, would be way above what small clients are able to pay.
Also other domestic accounting firms charge four to six times less than some international firms. Atrium, for example, pulls in about zl. 1,500-zl. 2,000 per month for booking about 100 documents and 100 invoices, said Cezary Kilczewski, president of Atrium Biuro Obslugi Podatkowej.
Furthermore, many firms said that they are stuck with older, less flexible staff.
"There are a lot of middle-aged (35-45 year old) women who have gone through some training and who work well, but only under supervision," Kilczewski said. "And then we have those grandmothers of 60 years of age and older who are good, for example, to run the books for a small store."
To make matters even more difficult, the firms said that many of the older people with experience consider themselves to be a valuable commodity and therefore demand unduly high salaries, said Ewa Kalinowska, president of Konsultant accounting firm.
She said she asks interviewees for their salary requirements and then gives them a test to check their ability to deal with typical accounting problems.
"The results are just poor," Kalinowska said. "Out of 20 tests there are usually about three that are satisfactory."
But not all Polish accounting firms have problems finding people. The majority of the 120-person staff at Finans-Service auditing company are older people with solid experience, said Zdzislaw Paryzinski, vice president of the firm.
He also said that the company pays an average monthly gross salary of zl. 10,000-zl. 12,000 - which far outpaces the salaries paid at other Polish firms.
"To truly practice your profession well you must constantly educate yourself by returning to the fundamentals," Paryzinski said. "Our auditors, even though they are older, are like that."
The young accountants who did join small companies often stay with the firms for a long time, said Konsultant's Kalinowska.
Beata Brzozowska, 28, has worked with Adiutor for a year now. She said that she has not even thought about changing her job.
"I like it a lot," she said. "It gives me a lot of useful experience."
But her decision not to try for a Big-Six job may have more to do with a lack of confidence about being hired than a long-standing commitment to small firms.
"It will always be only a dream," she said.
Paryzinski said that the situation should change in about six to eight years, as a greater number of young accountants gain experience, and the Big-Six firms become less willing to hire new graduates. Then, he said, small firms will have more of a selection to choose from.
"The profession (auditing) is very young," Paryzinski added. "But more and more people are going into it."
"We are getting older people, often less qualified who lack competence," said Ryszard Pietrzak, owner of accounting firm Biuro Powierniczo-Ksiegowe Adiutor in Warsaw. "Young people go where they are offered a good-sized salary."
Multinational companies, and particularly the Big-Six accounting firms such as Ernst & Young, Arthur Andersen or KPMG lure young accountants and auditors with benefits as well as salary. Oftentimes they can invest a significant amount of time and resources into training inexperienced staff and also have the added benefit of giving star employees international assignments.
Young graduates who studied finance, law or economics have fairly demanding salary requirements, the Polish firms said. According to a 1997 salary survey by international student group AIESEC, students from one of the more prestigious business schools, the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), expect to bring home a starting gross salary of zl. 2,865 per month. They also want that figure, which is more than double the average wage here, to jump to zl 3,845 after one year.
It is a price international accounting firms said they are prepared to pay.
"Those are the rates we talk about (with candidates)," said Gralyna Kania, training and recruitment manager at KPMG.
Kania said that about 75% of KPMG's staff is under 30. The firm hires an average of 60-70 new employees each year, which attracts applications from about 800 graduates, she said.
That level, however, is too high for Polish accounting firms, who usually charge much lower fees for their work and therefore do not pull in the kind of revenue the Big-Six firms see.
"I can't promise a young candidate that in three years I'll pay him zl. 3,000-zl. 4,000," Pietrzak said. "I just can't."
To pay that much the company would need to charge at least four times its zl. 50 per hour consulting fee, Pietrzak added. That, however, would be way above what small clients are able to pay.
Also other domestic accounting firms charge four to six times less than some international firms. Atrium, for example, pulls in about zl. 1,500-zl. 2,000 per month for booking about 100 documents and 100 invoices, said Cezary Kilczewski, president of Atrium Biuro Obslugi Podatkowej.
Furthermore, many firms said that they are stuck with older, less flexible staff.
"There are a lot of middle-aged (35-45 year old) women who have gone through some training and who work well, but only under supervision," Kilczewski said. "And then we have those grandmothers of 60 years of age and older who are good, for example, to run the books for a small store."
To make matters even more difficult, the firms said that many of the older people with experience consider themselves to be a valuable commodity and therefore demand unduly high salaries, said Ewa Kalinowska, president of Konsultant accounting firm.
She said she asks interviewees for their salary requirements and then gives them a test to check their ability to deal with typical accounting problems.
"The results are just poor," Kalinowska said. "Out of 20 tests there are usually about three that are satisfactory."
But not all Polish accounting firms have problems finding people. The majority of the 120-person staff at Finans-Service auditing company are older people with solid experience, said Zdzislaw Paryzinski, vice president of the firm.
He also said that the company pays an average monthly gross salary of zl. 10,000-zl. 12,000 - which far outpaces the salaries paid at other Polish firms.
"To truly practice your profession well you must constantly educate yourself by returning to the fundamentals," Paryzinski said. "Our auditors, even though they are older, are like that."
The young accountants who did join small companies often stay with the firms for a long time, said Konsultant's Kalinowska.
Beata Brzozowska, 28, has worked with Adiutor for a year now. She said that she has not even thought about changing her job.
"I like it a lot," she said. "It gives me a lot of useful experience."
But her decision not to try for a Big-Six job may have more to do with a lack of confidence about being hired than a long-standing commitment to small firms.
"It will always be only a dream," she said.
Paryzinski said that the situation should change in about six to eight years, as a greater number of young accountants gain experience, and the Big-Six firms become less willing to hire new graduates. Then, he said, small firms will have more of a selection to choose from.
"The profession (auditing) is very young," Paryzinski added. "But more and more people are going into it."
