Good results for firm committed to graduate hiring

Business advisory firm Deloitte has reaffirmed its commitment to hiring 1,100 new graduates this autumn in the Deloitte UK 2010 Annual Report, which sets out how its strategy during the downturn has paid off.

Deloitte’s UK revenue was £1.95 billion in the year ending May 31 2010, just £16 million below the previous year, a result described by senior partner and chief executive John Connolly as a ‘strong performance in a tough environment.’

In the report, Mr Connolly explains that when the financial crisis turned into full recession in 2008, his firm responded with a plan that involved a special emphasis on its people, to avoid job losses and provide ongoing opportunities for development and career progression, and to continue to build for the future. He said this had paid off with a very satisfactory performance, and anticipated a return to revenue growth in the next financial year.

Mr Connolly highlighted results in different practices across the firm:

• Tax achieved a market leading performance despite a decline of 2.3% in revenue.
• Revenue in consulting declined by 4%, with the impact of the recession felt most keenly in the first half of the financial year and a significant upturn in business activity in the second half, especially in financial services.
• Corporate finance revenue grew by 10.6% in the year.

What does the future hold for graduates working in the post-recession world?

Looking ahead to the future, Mr Connolly drew attention to seven themes that were likely to shape business activity in the post-recession world. He anticipated continued, but variable and unpredictable, growth in the global economy, with the backwash from recession creating new sources of uncertainty. Globalisation was set to continue. Many Western countries would seek to reduce public sector deficits, resulting in smaller government.

Corporate responsibility and ethical business would grow in importance, and policy makers and businesses would need to prepare for the challenges of an ageing world, with the proportion of the population aged 60 and over expected to more than double in the developing world by 2050.

Finally, in the wake of the financial crisis and recession, policy makers and voters were likely to take a more questioning attitude to the corporate sector – referred to as ‘capital scepticism’.

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Posted by Alison_TARGETjobs on 1 September 2010

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