The Big Five audit firms in India are facing a talent crunch. A regulatory clampdown and a higher number of “relatively safer” career opportunities elsewhere are pulling chartered accountants (CAs) away from the audit profession. A senior partner at a Big Five firm told FE that the auditing verticals in top firms are operating with 20% lower staff than the required strength. At present, the top five firms have around 12,500 people in their audit function. “The amount of work is increasing every year but the staff strength is not growing as fast. Although we need to increase the capacity to handle the additional work and deal with the regulatory oversight, getting the right workforce has certainly become a challenge,” said audit vertical head at a Big Five firm. Another partner in the same firm said that the talent crunch is largely due to heightened regulatory scrutiny and because of the expanding opportunities beyond the traditional audit. “When I completed my CA in 1980s, there were fewer avenues. But young CAs today have a vast number of opportunities, and unless somebody is passionate about auditing, most of them usually land up somewhere else,” he said.