Hiring poses its fair share of challenges for public accounting’s HR departments, even during the best of times. Now, compound the usual frustration with a global pandemic, mandatory stay-at-home orders, and cross-industry disruption. Suddenly, the ability to predict workforce needs with any confidence isn’t a job skill you’d take for granted. It’s a superpower.
As the coronavirus continues to disrupt daily operations across the country, public accounting firms are staring down the barrel of just one more problem on an already long list. To hire or not to hire? Without the ability to make long term predictions about the state of the world, how do you ensure you’re able to scale quickly and meet the needs of a post-pandemic landscape? Our answer: on-demand workers will play an integral role in helping firms navigate uncertain market conditions.
Predictions for the post-pandemic future
When the first coronavirus reports surfaced, the entire country—indeed, the world—was confronted with unprecedented uncertainty. Those who could asked their teams to work from home, a temporary concession that may forever reshape the modern workforce. Those unable to work remotely had to change daily operations, or even pivot their market offering. Consider the automakers producing ventilators, distilleries making hand sanitizer, and bars formulating take-home, pre-made cocktails across the country.
While the U.S. economy has shown incredible resilience in the face of uncertainty, we haven’t had reliable predictions about the future of work, industry, and the public good. However, with our years of experience and in-depth understanding of public accounting, we can forecast at least three likely scenarios for the audit industry.
Scenario one: overwhelmed with work
In scenario one, the market rebounds quickly as businesses return to normal operations. Like a rubber band that was slowly, continuously stretched since the beginning of this pandemic, the sudden release snaps audit departments across the country into action. Companies will be eager to get back into the game, inundating accounting firms with requests that they want “done yesterday.”
Firms that enacted layoffs and furloughs will suddenly face a considerable work surge with an insufficient workforce. They’ll scramble to scale up and hire so they can accept work before it bobs downstream to the next competitor. All things considered, this is an ideal scenario. After all, it’s preferable to have too much work than not enough.
Scenario two: the never rebound
The second scenario paints a more dire scene. The revenue losses amassed during the pandemic make it impossible for small to midsize companies—many of audit’s primary clients—to reopen their doors. As a result, competition for business becomes even more extreme. Despite being well-staffed (having retained your rockstar staff after reading our thoughts on the long term costs of layoffs), your business is too slow to pick up, and you still have to let go of your workers. You don’t know when (or if) you’ll have the workload to sustain them. But you cross your fingers that they’ll still be available when the time comes.
Scenario three: riding the post-pandemic wave
The third—and perhaps most likely—scenario is the most unpredictable of all. In this scenario, different companies and industries return to work in waves, which means that audit requests come and go in extreme fluctuations. One minute, you’re up to your eyeballs in urgent audits. The next, you’re twiddling your thumbs and staring out at the proverbial empty horizon. Consider it a sort of truncated version of the year as usual, with your staff bouncing between boredom and burnout.
Hedge your bets with on-demand workers
In a time of uncertainty, economic data can quickly become obsolete. But, there’s an alternative to expensive full-time hires and unpredictable gig workers. Through Makosi’s “third path” recruiting system, you get experienced, on-demand reinforcements to help out no matter what situation you face. Whether you need to scale up your team to meet a surge in demand, or want to pad your roster to focus in on the professional development of your full-time workers, we have the capabilities you need.
Workforce agility and scalability with on-demand workers
At Makosi, we’re harnessing the power of modern technology to redefine the realm of possibility.
We’re proud to provide agile teams of on-demand workers that can be brought up to speed in hours—not days, weeks, or even months. Plus, you get experienced and guaranteed Audit Seniors with professional coaching and personal development in their corner. Learn more about how our on-demand workers help keep you on track, no matter what the market throws your way.
