No career stability. Billable hours will be cut without notification or performance-based reason, which can be cause for firing if utilization is not maintained. In case you are skeptical, I had months of down time immediately after starting as an associate. I didn't even have the chance to perform, and already they were putting me on the bench. The primary reason for this IMO is the ever increasing benchmark for non-US billable hours. Overseas workers can serve as associates, seniors, managers and become CPA certified. Each year the company raises the percentage of hours allocated to non-US staff, i.e. lowers the percentage of hours allocated to the US. For my sector and area, the company has brought its hiring of US assurance associates nearly to a halt and I wouldn't be surprised if another mass layoff hits assurance and tax soon as well. It is a very common concern and source of stress for the staff here in the US, in addition to the technological developments I will mention below.
The company also intends on replacing many of our job functions with AI tools in the coming years. At the present moment this is not as much of a near term concern as outsourcing IMO, but the company is gearing its procedures and establishing new standards to make audit activities more automated. Neither of the above developments are secrets - the company is very open and transparent about the transition and calls it "Next Gen Audit". There is no loyalty or assurance for US based workers. It is a very impersonal dog eat dog corporate environment where your career could end at any moment for someone else's convenience, leaving you and those who depend on you stranded financially.
