Hög personalomsättning inom Big Four

: En kvalitativ studie om varför personal väljer att sluta

Abstract

The auditing industry is an industry that has a high employee turnover. The high employee turnover is seen as a general problem because a reduced number of auditors affects for instance the quality of auditing and the limited liability companies. The purpose of this study was to investigate why employees working within the Big Four choose to quit and to increase understanding of what contributes to high employee turnover in the auditing industry. Based on previous research, four research gaps have been identified that this study intended to fill. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted to achieve the purpose of this study. The respondents were divided into two different perspectives, which were former employees and employees in the HR department. The respondents’ answers were compared partly with each other and partly with previous research. The previous research included two central theories, which were expectancy theory and social exchange theory. Based on the comparisons, four conclusions could be drawn. The first conclusion was that the family situation played a greater role than previous research had concluded. The second conclusion was that salary played a major role for the respondents in their decision to leave. The third conclusion was that the willingness to try something new was a contributing factor to the decision to leave according to both perspectives. The fourth conclusion was that the two different perspectives differed regarding the family situation and working in the evening. Finally, this study has helped to increase the understanding of what contributes to employees working within the Big Four choosing to quit and what contributes to high employee turnover in the auditing industry.

Date of Award	2022-Jun
Original language	Swedish
Supervisor	Elias Bengtsson (Supervisor), Caroline Pontoppidan (Assessor) & Heléne Tjärnemo (Examiner)