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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 arm is set to fail spectacularly, having set itself the most ambitious target. The company is aiming for a 40 percent female partnership by this year, with data from last year showing 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 global chair and naming Anna Anthony as the UK firm’s new managing partner.
But increasing the gender balance in partnerships towards parity has been a slow process, a phenomenon that is reflected in sectors such as law. and banking.
The Big Four have all set a goal in recent years to increase their proportion of female partners and, in turn, help reduce the gender pay gap, with women tending to make up less than a fifth of this rank in the United Kingdom towards the end of the year. 2010s.
PwC is three percentage points away from its 2025 target of 30% female partnerships in the UK, according to its most recent data. This figure has increased by one to two percentage points per year since 2021, meaning it would take a bigger leap to close the gap before PwC releases its new figures later this year.
KPMG and Deloitte have already achieved their own targets in the UK. The former was the first of the Big Four to publish gender diversity data just over a decade ago and surpassed an interim target of 25% in 2022. It had 29% women in the UK in 2023.
And Deloitte announced last year that 30 percent of its partners were women, ahead of a 2025 deadline to reach that figure.
However, both companies are on track to miss the global partnership goals – goals that PwC and EY do not have.
The Big Four have argued that increasing the number of female partners takes time, due to the need to build a pipeline of candidates with enough experience to be promoted.
Karl Edge, HR director at KPMG UK, said the firm is “committed to creating an inclusive environment”, adding: “While progress may fluctuate, we strive to achieve better representation at all levels. of our office, challenging us to move forward. further and faster.
KPMG International said it would “continue to build on the momentum” towards gender equality, which remains “a strategic priority”.
Jackie Henry, managing partner for people and purpose at Deloitte UK, said the firm was “proud” to have reached its 2025 target a year early. “But . . . we will continue to hold ourselves accountable and fight for greater gender equality.
EY and PwC declined to comment.