Kat Jennings

While recently reading BNA Bloomberg’s 2019 Survey Findings on How Corporate Tax Departments Are Evolving, I found its mention of the growing deficit in tax talent interesting. With the majority of tax departments surveyed reporting difficulty in hiring and retaining talent, I want to jump in and share views of my own experiences on the subject matter. The talent pool is changing rapidly. While tax organizations struggle to identify the tax expertise they need, there are actually contributing factors to the rapid evolution of the tax profession. This article will address the factors surrounding the changing talent pool with corporate tax expertise.

The tax professional of the present and future is evolving rapidly. What is contributing to these changes? There are four things that come to mind quickly: baby boomers retiring in large numbers, changes in tax laws globally, changes in technology and changes in expectations of corporate tax roles today. Baby boomers are those born between the years 1946 and 1964 with the first baby boomers reaching the retirement age in 2011. There are about 76 million boomers in the U.S. representing about 29 percent of the current population. With the Census Bureau estimating about 10,000 baby boomers retiring daily, many still want to work part-time. Every day someone in tax is retiring.

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