Gen Z wants a seat at the table, but they're evaluating their employers just as much as their employers are evaluating them.
As accounting firms compete to recruit and retain top young talent amid an ongoing CPA shortage, understanding their wants and needs in the workplace is paramount. Work-life balance, professional development, and transparency rank at the top of the list. Simultaneously, they seek stability amid the turbulence of political and economic uncertainties, a tightening job market, higher interest rates, and rising costs of living.
But in order to attract young talent, the first step is removing the stigma around the talent.
"I think Gen Z gets a bad rap in some ways, rather unfairly," said Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, founder of BBR Consulting and president and manager of the Accounting MOVE Project. "I think they have a much healthier view of what a workplace should be than, say, Gen X and even some millennials. … They want to work to live rather than living to work, so they want clearly defined, 'This is what I expect of you,' and they also want recognition and opportunity to advance, and they may want that on a quicker schedule than what firms are typically doing."
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"Removing the stigma around assumptions for Gen Z is the best thing that firms can do when they're meeting their future partners where they are, and continuing to invest in them," said Liz Burkhalter, director of CPA pipeline at the American Institute of CPAs. "If you continue to invest, you'll continue to get the best out of them."
Lexi Weber, senior manager of emerging professionals initiatives at the AICPA, added, "They're challenging those norms that we've been accustomed to: Is it appropriate to ask people to work overtime? To work weekends? They're setting healthy boundaries, which I don't think we've seen in the past so much. It's not necessarily laziness, but it's kind of a changing of the guard in terms of focusing on what employees want and making that known."
Gen Z's must-haves
As the accounting profession undergoes an evolution — from states passing legislation creating alternative paths to licensure, to the wide-spread implementation of technologies like artificial intelligence, to private equity investors entering the scene — young people are looking for firms they can trust to navigate those changes.
"I think they want a firm who is putting them first and has a people-first culture, but also a firm that is transparent in, what are your strategies leading into the future and how are we going to handle these complexities?" Weber said.
Transparency is the key word. Young people face a unique set of challenges that are far different from what their parents and previous generations faced, and that influence their attitude toward work. "I think there are a lot of mental pieces for them: How do I plan for the future? What is that going to look like?" Weber said. "Firms really need to be transparent with their employees as to, what is your three-year career plan that they have for you here? What are those pay grades, or salary ranges that you could potentially meet if you do X, Y and Z?"
Compensation is the No. 2 priority for young accountants when choosing a firm, following work-life balance, according to KPMG's 2025 Intern Pulse Survey. But the accounting profession has historically lagged behind rival careers like finance and technology. Finance and tech typically offer fresh college graduates a higher starting salary, versus accounting's bid of a lower starting salary in exchange for a promise of a much greater payout years down the road after they make partner.
"We have a lot of pressure from external organizations, outside of public accounting, that are coming in, giving lucrative offers for senior accountants because of the talent shortage," Weber said. "So I think that they weigh that, as well as, 'What is the opportunity for me from not only a growth in career development, but also monetarily, how can I leverage myself?'"
Another demand from young accountants is professional development. Especially with AI and automation taking over the mundane tasks that typically fell to new employees, young accountants are being forced to upskill faster than ever. However, in the past, firms have been less likely to invest as many resources into developing their young talent due to the perception that most people who enter public accounting leave within two or three years.
"It's a bit of a double-edged sword," Ruszczyk said. "Firms don't necessarily want to spend the money [developing young talent] all the time because people are leaving early, but one of the reasons they're leaving early is because they're not getting that investment in them."
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Investing in talent as soon as they walk in the door is a crucial retention tool that increases an employee's loyalty, job satisfaction and engagement. Firms' use of technology is also a no-brainer, and thus, a must-have for this digital-native cohort. Almost two-thirds (60%) of accounting interns think they are more experimental with AI tools compared to older generations, according to the KPMG survey.
"From the student perspective, I think it's piquing their interest for sure," Burkhalter said. "They want to understand how much technology accounting firms are using and that they will be leveraging when they get into their first role. It's such an opportunity for them to leverage that technology and to continue to upskill themselves and get to those higher-order skills earlier on in their career."
"Our investments in technology are letting our people really develop themselves and really focus on the risky areas and focus their time on what matters," said Sandra Oliver, EY's global assurance talent leader. "With the impact of technology, AI is allowing our people to excel in their skill development and focus on the things that matter. Technology transformation is really going to allow our young professionals to have the careers that they've been seeking."
Gen Z unplugging
Experts highlighted that one of the biggest differences separating Gen Z from previous generations is their search for purpose in work.
"Younger people have a bigger sense of purpose as well about what they're doing and why they're doing it. They definitely want a career, they definitely want to work hard, but they definitely want to know why they're doing what they're doing," Oliver said. "It's not about separating time for work from time for the personal. It's living your fullest life."
"The No. 1 primary measure of success for the younger generation is around having a healthy physical and mental state," according to Irmgard Naudin ten Cate, EY's global talent attraction and acquisition leader.
From the employer's perspective, fulfilling that need in the workplace can look like allowing for flexible work schedules, offering mental health resources and stress-relief activities during tax season, getting involved in local communities, and fostering employee resource groups.
"They actually like the idea of finding a place with a culture where they feel like they belong, where they contribute and stay there and grow," Ruszczyk said. "But they're also very quick to jump ship if what has been promised to them is not being delivered."
Burnout and overwork is the leading reason accountants leave their firms, with 60% of respondents citing it in the 2025 Accounting MOVE Survey — but this year's findings pointed to something slightly different, according to Ruszczyk: "The profession has always had a burnout issue and a busy season issue, but the overwork is something that feels a little bit different. And I think it's because of the smaller talent pipeline, and people saying, 'I'm not going to continue doing this every year.'"
Despite wanting a seat at the table, Gen Z is not picking a career and blindly sticking to it because custom says it's the right thing to do.
"I can speak from my own experiences being an early career professional in a public accounting firm," Burkhalter said. "I wasn't sure if they were going to invest in me. I wasn't sure if I had a seat at the table. I felt compelled to ensure that I had a seat at the table and made sure I was on a committee, but I also worked for an incredibly supportive firm. And so I think new accounting grads, as they are entering into the workforce, have an amazing opportunity in front of them because so many firms are understanding the talent gap that they're experiencing, and they're looking for ways to continue to retain their talent."
"I think Gen Z is incredibly talented and bright. They just may have different priorities than the generations that are there before them," she continued. "I think the firms that will be on Best [Firms] to Work For lead with a people-first mentality, and it's meeting those new hires, those individuals that are just joining the firm, where they are, and ensuring that their priorities match the firm's priorities."
Even despite the current tightened job market, young accountants are still speaking out and pushing back on systems and traditions they don't like. "I really like their adaptability," Naudin ten Cate said. "I think a lot of other generations I see, they might not be as adaptable because they've not had as much change."
She also finds Gen Z's directness surprising and refreshing: "My teams are in all sorts of countries, and, of course, there's nuances within the cultures, but I think that's something that I think a lot of our early-career professionals learn when they're in high school and on campus — they learn more to debate and discuss."
"I really, really appreciate the fact that they are willing to push back," Ruszczyk said, noting the challenge that it has created in intergenerational communication. "I think with Gen Z, often their reaction is to be like, 'Well, I can go get a job down the street.' And the firm leaders want to jump to, 'Well, they're just lazy,' and that's not going to create a conversation where we find a middle ground and are able to meet client needs. So I think everybody has to come to this with a bit more of an open mind. Let's figure out people's strengths and work with those."
Derek Thomas, KPMG's national partner-in-charge of university talent acquisition, has advice for young accountants looking to wield their power more effectively: "The thing that I always tell folks is that you have a bigger voice when you demonstrate that you're capable and you're able to get the job done, and you're providing results. At the end of the day, it's not just about having the numbers on your side, it's about having the fact that you have results, that you're showing yourself as a valued member of the team, and you're making an impact. And I think when those types of employees are speaking up, they're more likely to be heard, because they're providing value to their organization. The organization wants to show them how much they're valued."
"I do see this generation come in ready to work," Thomas continued. "I think it's figuring out how to remotivate them; how do we work with them? I look at some reverse mentoring, too: How do I adjust how I've been doing things, seeing things through their eyes?"
