Catalan auditing firms confirm the difficulty of attracting talent

BarcelonaCatalan firms dedicated to the auditing sector in Catalonia have noted that the emergence of new technologies and artificial intelligence is making it difficult for them to attract talent, as the profile of the professionals they need has changed. According to the Catalonia Audit Barometer presented at the Auditorium Forum, 80.3% of companies in the sector consider attracting qualified professionals their main concern.

"Before we used to get economists and business administration graduates, but now we need a lot of staff trained in STEM professions (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)," Joan Vall, president of the Association of Sworn Auditors of Catalonia (CCJCC), explains to ARA. However, this is not the only problem in the sector. According to Vall, the fees charged by companies in the sector "have been very stable for years," but "regulation and its complexity are increasing," an element that, in his opinion, makes talent acquisition even more difficult. In fact, according to the Barometer, 91.8% of companies indicate that attracting talent is a difficult or very difficult task, a problem that affects large, medium, and small companies in the sector.

The Barometer is considered the second major challenge for the profession, digitization and the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI), according to 78.7% of the surveyed companies, although 64% acknowledge that the use of this technology in auditing processes continues to be "low or very low" and only 8.2% claim to use it intensively. The sector points out that the main barrier to incorporating digitization is the lack of knowledge or training, with the support of 80.3% of respondents.

The auditing sector in Catalonia also considers regulatory and normative compliance as one of its main challenges, a concern pointed out by 77% of the surveyed companies. Despite the challenges highlighted, the report reflects a positive perception of the sector's evolution, as 59% of firms view the last year favorably and 80.4% state they have registered growth compared to the previous year, in most cases moderately.

The outlook for the next twelve months is also optimistic: 47.5% of companies anticipate a slight increase in demand for their services and 39.3% expect to expand their workforces, while 59% are confident in maintaining stable employment levels.