2009 Big 4 Hiring Outlook

Today I’d like to present some facts on the state of the internship market. The majority of these statistics come from a great feature in Business Week, ‘The Best Places to Intern(1).’ This is a great feature and I highly recommend that everyone read it. However, in this post I will crunch these numbers to reveal some statistics that aren’t mentioned in the article. Almost every day I receive questions asking how the economy will impact hiring at the Big 4. Well, according to the report in Business Week, the number of 2009 internship positions is expected to drop 8.6% from 2008. The total number of interns hired by the Big 4 in 2008 was 8,975 and is expected to drop to 8,200 this year. While this is a fairly sharp drop, it illustrates the basic point that we all know: the jobs are still out there but the competition will be greater. Here is a table of the number of internships for 2008 and 2009 by company: Chart One  When it comes to salary, each of the Big 4 pays very well. The highest paid interns are Deloitte, with an average hourly rate of $24.50. Deloitte is followed by KPMG at $24.00, PWC at $23.80 and E&Y at $22.50. This rate translates to a total pay over the course of the internship in the range of $10,000 to 11,000. For college students who are used to making near minimum wage, this is great, great, money. The Business Week article also provides the % of interns who received a full time offer as well as the % of full-time hires who were previously interns. Using these two stats, I backed into an estimation of the total number of entry-level positions that the firm hired in 2008. Then, using the reduction in intern hiring % as an indicator of entry-level hiring for 2009, I estimated the total number of expected entry-level positions that will be offered in 2009. Here is the calculation: Chart Two  On a side note, I just realized that these calculations actually follow a pretty-common audit methodology known as “analytical procedures.” By taking known variables and extrapolating expected results, I am able to compute a reasonable expectation of what the number of new hires will be this year. In conclusion, these figures are fairly promising. The competition will be tough, but the Big 4 are still going strong. Click here to learn how YOU can increase your chances of getting hired.