PwC is laying off about 1,500 employees in the U.S., becoming the latest four major companies, laying off employees after a long history of low employee turnover.
According to people familiar with the matter, layoffs account for 2% of PwC's U.S. 75,000 workforce, focusing mainly on its audit and tax operations.
According to one familiar with the decision, the cuts are a process of checking the business for a month and after PwC previously moved hundreds of employees from unwanted positions to higher-growth units.
"This is a difficult decision and we have done it with caution, thoughtfulness and a deep awareness of its impact on our people, which appreciates the low levels of loss in history for several consecutive years, so it is necessary to take this step."
People said the affected staff were informed on Monday and Tuesday this week. Microsoft Teams Meeting Invitation Invites invited hundreds of people tagged as "Time-sensitive".
Those who fired include many who have recently joined PwC. A person who started in September told the Financial Times that they "suffered devastating." "Everyone is totally invisible to the layoffs today," the person said. "Some of us are promoting, but we are now cut off, not promotions and salary."
The company has also decided to cut campus recruitment due to low employee turnover, but will support last year's interns' proposal, which was scheduled to join later this year.
The new layoffs are the second round ordered by U.S. senior partner Paul Griggs, as he took charge a year ago. In September, he reorganized PwC's Products and Technology Group with about 1,800 jobs. Some additional layoffs conducted on Monday included more staff in the department.
Financial pressure on the Big Four companies with low employee turnover has increased, which employ thousands of new graduates in the United States every year. Their business consulting arm has slowed sharply since the pandemic boom in technical consulting work and the hopes of increasing mergers and acquisitions this year.
A month ago, Deloitte executives told employees internal calls that the team would lay off employees in its consulting business, including in government contract units affected by Elon Musk’s so-called cost-cutting drivers of government efficiency divisions.
"The overall demand for Deloitte services remains large," a company spokesperson said at the time. "We are taking moderate personnel actions to regulate growth in certain areas, the growing demand of our government clients and the lower levels of voluntary churn."
The Wall Street Journal reported that KPMG also laid off staff in the United States, totaling 330, accounting for about 4% of its audit department's workforce. The company said it is "addressing the low level of ongoing churn".