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Big Four accounting firms will miss female partner targets by 2025

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EY and PwC are on track to miss 2025 targets for female partner representation in the UK, as the big four accountancy firms struggle to sufficiently increase the proportion of women in their senior ranks.

EY’s UK division will fall short of its target most dramatically as it has set itself the most ambitious target. The firm aims to achieve 40 percent female equity participation by this year, and data from last year shows that only 28 percent of partners in the country were women.

Audit firms have increased the number of women in senior roles in recent years, with EY recently appointing Janet Truncale as its new global chair and appointing Anna Anthony as the UK firm’s new managing partner.

But raising the gender balance in alliances towards parity has proven to be a slow process, a phenomenon that is repeated in sectors such as law. and banking.

The Big Four have set targets in recent years to increase their proportion of female partners and, in turn, help reduce their gender pay gap; women tend to make up less than a fifth of that range in the UK towards the end of the century. the 2010s.

PwC is 3 percentage points away from its 2025 target of a 30 per cent female partnership in the UK, according to its latest data. The figure has risen between 1 and 2 percentage points per year since 2021, meaning a bigger jump would be needed to close the gap before PwC reports its new figures later this year.

KPMG and Deloitte have already met their own targets in the UK. The former was the first of the Big Four to publish data on gender diversity just over a decade ago, and surpassed a provisional target of 25 per cent in 2022. It had a female association of 29 per cent in the UK in 2023.

And Deloitte reported last year that 30 percent of its partners were women, ahead of a 2025 deadline to reach that number.

However, both companies are on track to miss global partnership goals, goals that PwC and EY do not have.

The Big Four have argued that increasing the number of female members takes time, due to the need to create a pool of candidates with enough experience to be promoted.

Karl Edge, chief people officer at KPMG UK, said the firm was “committed to creating an inclusive environment”, adding: “While progress may fluctuate, we are focused on achieving better representation at all levels of our business, challenging ourselves to move forward.” faster and faster.”

KPMG International said it would “continue to build on the momentum” for gender equality, which remains “a strategic priority.”

Jackie Henry, managing partner of people and purpose at Deloitte UK, said the firm was “proud” to reach its 2025 target a year early. “But… We will continue to take responsibility and strive to achieve greater gender equality.”

EY and PwC declined to comment.