3 min read January 2023 — In an interview with Invest:, Withum CEO and Managing Partner Patrick Walsh discussed recent highlights across Withum and the Whippany office, the booming shift in demand propelled by technology, what makes New Jersey a great place to live and do business and key challenges for the State. “As a life-long resident of NJ, it’s been exciting to see the opportunity that exists for business owners, employees and their families. I’ve started a businesses and raised a family here, and think it’s as strong a market, if not better, than anywhere else in the country to do so,” he said.
What have been some recent highlights for the firm?
I’m incredibly proud of our firm’s leadership and resiliency throughout the pandemic. Our teams have performed beyond expectations, as evidenced by our 14 industry vertical groups seeing strong growth over the past three years. A key driver of our success lies in the growth of our advisory practice, specifically cyber and information security services, outsourced accounting services, transaction advisory and technology and management consulting.
What demand shifts have you seen across industries?
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of various technologies across many industries. For some industries, it enabled their workforce to remain productive while working remotely. For others, automation solutions helped companies do the same amount of work with fewer resources due to the great resignation and shifting consumer behaviors. This acceleration increased investment in innovative technologies across almost all industries that drove growth in capital markets, which has cooled considerably since the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates to combat inflation. Even with inflation and rising interest rates, our clients continue to perform well and invest in their businesses.
How do you view the balance between in-person collaboration and the remote work dynamic?
In the accounting profession, the hybrid work environment is here to stay. We’ve proven we can be very efficient and effective in a remote setting, even with some of our team members fully remote, but we still place a high value on in-person interaction. The accounting and advisory profession is an apprentice model, so until we can develop a more successful model, the in-office collaboration will still be necessary. You learn by watching and interacting. The team members we hired directly from college during the pandemic shutdown missed out on in-person observation and interaction, stunting their professional growth. We need our entry-level people to get into the office more regularly, two or three days a week. However, for this strategy to be successful, we need to have more senior team members available in the office to coach and mentor the less experienced team members.
What are some of the strategies your team has implemented to retain talent and acquire new members?
Withum has always put its people first long before it was in vogue to be a people-focused firm. We have a handful of unique benefits available to our team members that other firms, to our knowledge, don’t offer, such as reimbursing 25% of childcare costs with no limit. That is a new benefit we added during the pandemic to support our working parents, who we saw struggle to balance work and family life during the pandemic. We have a hardship relief fund sponsored by our team members, which we use to provide financial grants to any team member experiencing an unanticipated financial hardship. Having our people willing to help fund the grants is a testament to our culture and how we embrace the family spirit. We also offer team members the opportunity to invest in shadow stock, enabling them to share in the growth and success of our firm. It’s no secret the professional services industry is competitive with talent, so we’re always looking to add new benefits to distinguish ourselves from the competition.
We are also adding talent around the world. This past fall, we opened a 30,000-square-foot office in India to accommodate our existing 250+ team members. We expect that office to make up 20% of our worldwide team.
What are some of the contributing factors to the lack of senior-level talent?
I don’t think we’re seeing a lack of senior-level talent. For our profession, it’s the middle-level, team members with three-to-seven years’ experience we’re lacking. This level is where people have developed the skills that make them attractive to other industries. I believe remote working through the pandemic expanded the population of professionals who have reassessed what they want. As a profession, we need to do a better job of reducing the compression that comes with filing deadlines and meeting client needs. We need to articulate the long-term vision of our profession’s opportunities, not just in 24 to 36 months but five to 10 years from now.
What makes North and Central Jersey a good place to live and do business?
It’s the intellectual capital of the region. New Jersey has one of the best public school systems in the country. I’m a believer that to have any outstanding business, you need great and talented people, and there is no shortage of them in NJ. The State has the infrastructure to support the population and is strategically located between Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. We’re not what you see on The Soprano’s or The Jersey Shore. We are a great state to raise families that offers something for everyone – mountains, beaches, farming, horse breading, the list goes on. New Jersey is a small state with over 500 small municipalities, which creates intimate communities and connections with neighbors. Overall, the conditions of a well-educated workforce, a wholesome family environment and a healthy livelihood make New Jersey a great place to live and work.
What is a strategy to keep people in the State and region despite high-tax rates?
Building on some of the existing tax incentives would be a great place to start with an extensive reach. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) has notable programs for select industries and small businesses. Expanding programs to sectors that are leaving the area, such as financial services, would be a benefit to the State. Retirees leave NJ and the region because of the high tax burden; reducing this burden could result in retirees staying in the State more months out of the year. Finally, I think access to entry-level housing is critical for young adults starting out in their careers. When I was 24 years old, I bought my first house in New Jersey in a great town that is walking distance to a public school and commuting distance to NYC. I can’t imagine either of my two mid-twenty-year-old children being able to do that today. We can solve all of these problems with more cooperation in government.
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