The trainee population across the accountancy sector continues to grow, but at a slower pace than previous years. At the same time, firms are having to adapt the way they train their new joiners, while ensuring they are casting their recruitment nets in as diverse a pool of talent as possible.

The latest figures from Accountancy Daily’s exclusive Top 75 Accountancy Firm Survey 2023 shows that the number of accountancy and tax trainees in the Top 75 has risen by 3% to 22,070 over the last year.

However, last year’s survey revealed an 8% increase, suggesting that the demand for trainees is cooling as firms prepare for a possible slow in work in the wake of global economic uncertainty, rising interest rates and geopolitical instability.