PwC has become the latest Big Four accounting firm to implement job cuts. According to the Financial Times, the firm is laying off approximately 1,500 employees in the United States, which is roughly 2% of its 75,000-strong US workforce. The layoffs are primarily affecting staff in the audit and tax divisions.
In addition to the job cuts, PwC has also decided to curtail campus recruitment. However, the firm said it will honor all existing job offers extended to last year’s interns, who are expected to join the firm later this year.
“This was a difficult decision, and we made it with care, thoughtfulness and a deep awareness of its impact on our people, appreciating that historically low levels of attrition over consecutive years have made it necessary to take this step,” a PwC spokesperson told Financial Times on Monday.
Sources told the Financial Times that affected employees received Microsoft Teams invites labeled “time sensitive.”
One affected person told the outlet, “Some of us were up for promotion, but instead of a promotion and a pay bump we’re now getting cut off.”
Another added, “Everyone was completely blindsided by the lay-offs today.”
Other Big Four firms have also made similar moves. Deloitte recently announced plans to reduce staff in its US consulting division.
“Overall demand for Deloitte’s services remains strong,” Deloitte spokesperson Jonathan Gandal said in a statement last month. “We are taking modest personnel actions based on moderating growth in certain areas, our government clients’ evolving needs, and low levels of voluntary attrition.”
Meanwhile, KPMG laid off 330 employees in its US audit division in November, according to The Wall Street Journal, representing about 4% of that unit’s workforce.
