Using Computer Simulations to Recruit and Train Generation Y Accountants

Ralph S. Polimeni, PhD, CPA, and Jacqueline A. Burke, PhD, CPA, and Diana Benyaminy, CPA

The members of Generation Y have accentuated the need for accounting firms to be innovative and make use of the latest technology in recruiting and training. This generation has different needs and expectations from those of baby boomers and Generation X. Firms must tune in to the desires of Yers if they want to recruit and retain them. Who exactly is Generation Y? Definitions vary, but a 2005 USA Today article broadly defines them as individuals who were born in the late 1970s through 2002 (Stephanie Armour, “Generation Y: They've Arrived at Work with a New Attitude,” November 6, 2005). The Generation Yers account for close to 80 million individuals, outnumbering the 78 million baby boomers reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. By the year 2010, it is estimated that about 30 million Generation Yers will have entered the job market (Carmine Gallo, “Communicating with Twentysomethings,” BusinessWeek, February 15, 2008). Other statistics have shown that, by the year 2014, more than 63 million Generation Yers will dominate the workforce (NAS Recruitment Communications, “Recruiting and Managing the Generations,” white paper, 2007), exceeding the Xers and baby boomers by at least 20 million. As stated in a recent CPA Journal article, accounting firms will need to find new methods to recruit and manage these younger workers (Kathryn Yeaton, “Recruiting and Managing the ‘Why?’ Generation: Gen Y,” April 2008).