KPMG UK is joining Deloitte and PwC in adding soft skills and professional basics to the firm’s new hire training, having noticed the recruits are lacking in “people skills” critical to hack it in public accounting. Why is this new crop so devoid of interpersonal intelligence? While us older working adults were getting fat and day drinking during lockdown, these young people were missing out on important socialization that happens in very early adulthood.
Wrote The Telegraph on Sunday:
KPMG is giving extra training to its graduate recruits and hauling them into the office more regularly amid concerns that lockdown damaged Gen Z’s development and confidence.
The Big Four accounting and consulting firm has overhauled its graduate training programme after noticing that its “lockdown generation” recruits were finding it difficult to adapt to working life, sources told The Telegraph.
It comes after bosses at the firm observed that some of its new junior staff were lacking in confidence when it came to basic skills like working in teams and project management.
The firm, which is one of Britain’s biggest graduate recruiters, will now provide classes on “soft skills”, such as how to give presentations in person and how to work in a team.
The firm hired around a thousand new graduates in the UK last year and is expecting to increase that to about 1,500 this year.
KPMG has been doing new hire orientation completely remote since the pandemic, they’re now pivoting to three days in the office and two at home. The idea being that shy young recruits need to be socialized, much like how one would tame feral kittens by forcing them to be held and pet. Hopefully there’s less hissing involved.
“There’s no doubt that the pandemic has impacted recent graduates and apprentices, who are now joining the workforce,” said Jon Holt, KPMG UK CEO. “They have missed out on a lot. If I think back to my own time at the University of Nottingham it’s hard to imagine how my experiences – including the friendships I formed – might have been affected by lockdowns.”
“I admire their resilience and it’s important that as a business we support them as they begin their training and careers with us,” he added. “This includes offering additional courses to help them build soft skills, as well as training them in the big issues facing our clients such as ESG and technology.”
Bro, these kids are afraid of their own shadow, who gives a flying flip about ESG?
Related:
“KPMG has been doing new hire orientation completely remote since the pandemic, they’re now pivoting to three days in the office and two at home. The idea being that shy young recruits need to be socialized, much like how one would tame feral kittens by forcing them to be held and pet. Hopefully there’s less hissing involved.”
And does anyone really believe this BS? It’s obviously another return to office gimmick. The only way it’s related to COVID lockdown is that the newer generation isn’t drinking the Big 4 Culture Kool-Aid anymore so return to office will continue until morale improves.