Workload compression during the first quarter of each year (January-March) is hypothesized to involve additional job demands on auditors and tax professionals causing job strain [occupational stress). Using canonical correlation analysis to analyze the survey data, this study found that the strongest stressor-strain relationship was for the group surveyed in January, indicating that workload compression contributes to seasonal occupational stress. Seasonal stress will remain a very strong barrier to qualified individuals in making an accounting career their vocational choice and will put additional demands on Employee Assistance Program (EM) counseling for accounting practitioners.
Public accounting firms seek to hire the top accounting graduates each year to begin productive long-term careers in auditing and tax. However, once hired, a rather drastic winnowing process begins. Studies have found significant turnover of professional accountants, specifically audit and tax personnel (Nelson & Sutton, 1990; Robertson, Cooper, & Williams, 1990). Some of these studies have found turnover as high as 80% within 5 years (Bullen & Flamholtz, 1985). Consequently, the public accounting firms' costs for recruiting, training, and replacing audit and tax personnel due to turnover are enormous.
Occupational stress, often referred to as "job stress," is the result of a process identified by French and Caplan (1973) as the stressor-strain relationship. McGrath (1976) defined job stressors as job demands on workers. Hobfoll(l988) described job strains as the negative effects of stressful events. Job stress results from job demands acting on accounting practitioners to produce negative work environment outcomes.
This study examined the stressor-strain relationship of auditors and tax professionals during periods of relatively high stress (January-March) and during periods of low stress (April-December). The