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Shortage of audit professionals will ‘affect Hong Kong’s position as a fundraising centre’, industry body says, asks government to recruit overseas auditors
- Hong Kong is facing a serious talent shortage in the accounting industry, chairman of industry body Hong Kong Association of Registered Public Interest Entity Auditors says
- PIEAA survey shows that auditing firms are struggling to recruit young workers
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Hong Kong should consider recruiting overseas auditors to resolve a serious manpower shortage, or it will affect the city’s status as an international financial centre, an industry body has said.
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The Hong Kong Association of Registered Public Interest Entity Auditors (PIEAA) said on Wednesday that a survey it had conducted between October 2022 and February 2023 of 313 Hong Kong-based accounting firms and students found that one in three accounting firms currently lacks 20 per cent of the needed manpower, and more than half are actively recruiting.
The association’s members employ a combined 16,000 people that handle the audit of all of Hong Kong’s more than 2,600 listed companies.
“The survey has made it clear that Hong Kong is facing a serious talent shortage in the accounting industry,” said Clement Chan Kam-wing, PIEAA’s chairman. “If the problem is not solved, it will mean some firms might not have enough manpower to do complex audit work, and this will affect Hong Kong’s position as a fundraising centre for listed companies.”
PIEAA’s findings are significant because Hong Kong, which has been the world’s largest initial public offering market seven times over the past 14 years, has a strong demand for audit professionals.
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