All the talk is that we are heading into a recession within the next year. What impact will this have on those in public accounting and our exit opp considerations?

Probably one of the safer places to be during a recession.

I echo @CroweHorwath1. Indeed, a very stable industry in rough times.

Private will do massive cuts to bring down costs to appease investors. Public accounting will do cuts as well but not like private. Big4 will get hit hard as they always get hit, especially consulting and M&A work since both will slow down during a recession. Mid level and national firms will definitely see some layoffs but if you group is profitable I can't see them firing people. But if your group starts losing clients left and right then I'd be worried.