Experiences from the Field: Why Auditors Leave the Industry

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this thesis is to explore how auditors who have left the industry perceive the workload, pressure, and job tasks in auditing and how these topics influenced their decision to leave the industry. By doing so this paper aims to expand upon the existing literature seeking to understand what factors contribute to the high turnover rates in auditing.

Design/methodology/approach – To explore the perception of the workload, pressure, and job tasks in auditing, 9 qualitative interviews were conducted with former auditors. The interviews were conducted as semi-structured interviews, which were recorded and transcribed. The transcriptions were afterwards coded and used for the analysis.

Findings – The study finds that former auditors often perceive that workload and pressure on the job leads to a lack of work-life balance, which impacts their willingness to stay in the industry. The study also finds that recognition, social relationships, and the job tasks have a significant impact on how the lack of work-life balance and pressure is perceived. As such it is found that, if auditors perceive that they are receiving recognition, have good social relationships in the office and the right tasks, the lack of work-life balance and pressure on the job is perceived less negatively.

Originality/value – By performing qualitative interviews with former auditors, this study contributes to deepening the understanding of how the former auditors perceive the topics of workload, pressure, and task on the job in a way that has not been done in previous quantitative research. By doing so this study contributes to deepening the understanding of how these factors impact auditors decision to leave the industry.