The program is big and ambitious. But it's very scale speaks to the difficulty firms of all sorts are having keeping and retaining people. It's especially significant because Deloitte has emerged in the last 10 years as one of the most enlightened and progressive employers in the nation, chosen three years in a row as a Fortune "Best Place to Work."

The other side of the coin, of course, is that this is a great time to be an accounting professional. Never before have the best of them been so sought-after or so highly prized.

Under the new program at Deloitte, most client service and senior administrative professionals will earn so-called c-shares, short for "career shares," on top of their regular salaries and benefits. The employees can invest the c-shares in a variety of vehicles. After vesting, the staffers can cash in their c-shares, plus or minus any investment returns. Some 11,000 workers, out of the firm's total roster of 30,000 in the United States, may be eligible the first year, with the number expanding by 10 percent annually.

The program will be paid out of profits and what the firm calls "retention-related savings." Deloitte will offer "a variety of investment options available for individual awards -- some conservative, others more aggressive -- including investment options designed to mirror performance in the burgeoning technology and venture capital arenas." Significantly, Deloitte says, the program will be tailored "to permit career professionals to share in firm investment opportunities as well."

It's the next best thing to stock options in the firm itself; it's participation in the New Economy ventures the firm is making.

The staffing shortage is a crisis at all firms and companies, but Deloitte deals with it at a massive scale. The firm hires about 9,000 people a year from 100,000 resumes. It pays up to $3,500 per recruiting referral and enters referrers into a contest to win a Jeep or Corvette. Since 1996, the firm has paid out $9 million in cash and given away 14 cars for 3,000 referrals.

Earlier this year, chairman Jim Copeland laid out the problem this way: "Throughout history, wars have been fought over precious resources - land, water, coal, oil. Today, the battlefield has shifted, and companies everywhere are fighting for what has already become the most precious resource of the New Millennium - talent."

"The available labor pool simply isn't keeping pace with job demand," said Copeland, citing some fresh statistics:

• Unemployment is low, and probably will continue to decrease into 2010.

• College graduates and knowledge workers are scarcer. Some human resource executives say that every employee in hand is worth 200 resumes in the bush.

• Looking ahead, job growth is outpacing workforce growth - and job skills are changing faster than school curriculums.

• According to Bureau of Labor statistics, between 1996 and 2006, jobs are expected to grow 19 percent. During the same time period, the workforce is expected to increase 11 percent. Another estimate forecasts a 30-percent shortage of workers.

• The annual rate of population growth will continue to decrease into 2010.

• Experts project the deepest dip in talent around 2005.

• In 15 years, there will be 15 percent fewer employees ages 35 to 45 - often considered the prime age for employees to develop as managers.

• The median age of our population will continue to increase steadily.

But the bottom line is the bottom line. Figuring that every turned over position costs the firm 1.5 times the ex-staffer's salary, Copeland said Deloitte has shaved $100 million off its annual turnover costs since 1995.

Maybe it's about time some of the savings was put back into the pockets of the staffers.

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