Pricewaterhouse Coopers

At PricewaterhouseCoopers, a diverse mix of employees brings considerable business benefits

PricewaterhouseCoopers provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services. The company has member firm offices in 148 different countries and employs a diverse workforce. A number of well-established recruitment and secondment programmes help PricewaterhouseCoopers address skills shortages and enrich the organisation.

Each year, PricewaterhouseCoopers brings a number of people to Scotland as part of its Global Good Citizen Programme.

Employees are encouraged to apply to work to gain different experiences and skills. The programme then carefully matches the skills, experience and desires of individuals with vacancies in particular areas.

International Experience

The company also runs a secondment programme, providing placements for employees who would like to work abroad. Gaining international experience is valued highly within PricewaterhouseCoopers.

As Hazel McAllister, Recruitment Manager, explains, bringing international staff to Scotland has many benefits for the company too.

"It helps with our global resourcing and people from different backgrounds enhance the diversity and culture of the firm. We also benefit from different working practices, exposure to different clients and differing reporting standards.

"For example, some of our Scottish clients have American interests and we're able to bring in people who have US reporting experience."

Graduate Recruitment

In addition to its internal programmes, PricewaterhouseCoopers also operates a graduate recruitment programme, which encourages applications from all students each year. As part of this programme, around 70 graduates arrive at the company's Scottish offices each year, some from overseas.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is also working with the Scottish Government on the Fresh Talent initiative: Working in Scotland scheme, which allows international students who qualify under the scheme to apply for leave to enter or remain in Scotland for two years after graduation.

For PricewaterhouseCoopers, this has the potential to provide a vital resource, especially when recruiting from non-European Union countries.

Says McAllister: "It should open up a wide candidate market and also manage students' expectations when they apply to study here. It's definitely a positive thing."

Case study:Jan 2006

More Information

• Find out more about Pricewaterhouse Coopers