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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 accounting firms struggle to adequately boost the proportion of women in their senior roles.
EY's UK arm is expected to miss its target significantly, having set the most ambitious target. The company is targeting a 40 percent female partnership by this year, as data from last year showed that only 28 percent of partners in the country were women.
Auditing firms have increased the number of women in senior roles in recent years, with EY recently appointing Janet Truncal as its new global head and Anna Anthony as the UK firm's new managing partner.
But raising the gender balance in partnerships towards parity has proven to be a slow process, a phenomenon that resonates in sectors such as law. and banking services.
The Big Four have set targets in recent years to increase proportions of female partners, thus helping to reduce gender pay gaps, with women tending to represent less than a fifth of those in the UK at the end of the year. 2010s.
PwC is three percentage points away from its 2025 target of 30 per cent female partnerships in the UK, according to its latest data. The number has increased by one or two percentage points annually since 2021, meaning it will take a bigger leap forward to close the gap before PwC announces 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 the interim target of 25 per cent in 2022. It had a female partnership of 29 per cent in the UK in 2023.
Deloitte reported last year that 30 percent of its partners were women, ahead of its 2025 deadline to reach that number.
However, the two companies are on track to miss their global partnership goals — goals that PwC and Ernst & Young do not have.
The Big Four have claimed that increasing the number of female partners takes time, due to the need to build a pool of candidates with sufficient experience for promotion.
Carl Edge, chief people officer at KPMG in the UK, said the firm was “committed to creating an inclusive environment”, adding: “Although progress may fluctuate, we are focused on achieving better representation across all levels of our firm, and are challenging ourselves to go further.” Go farther and faster.”
KPMG International said it would “continue to build on the momentum” to achieve gender equality, which remains a “strategic priority”.
Jackie Henry, managing partner for people and goals at Deloitte UK, said the company was “proud” to have achieved its 2025 target one year early. “But…we will continue to hold ourselves accountable and strive for greater gender equality.
EY and PwC declined to comment.
