PwC is reportedly planning to reduce its workforce in the United States by 1,800 positions, according to a report published Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). This move represents approximately 2.5% of the accounting giant’s 75,000 employees in the US.
Sources familiar with the situation informed the WSJ that these job cuts are expected to commence in October. The reductions will primarily target PwC’s advisory and products and technology divisions, with half of the impacted roles being located offshore. The layoffs will extend across various levels, from associates to managing directors, and will include positions within business services, audit, and tax departments, as per the report.
Paul Griggs, the CEO of PwC US, who succeeded Tim Ryan in May, acknowledged the upcoming job reductions in a memo to staff, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. “There will be an element of resource action that will impact a relatively small proportion of our people, something that is never easy,” Griggs stated in the memo. Since assuming leadership, Griggs has restructured PwC US back to its traditional three-business structure encompassing audit, tax, and consulting, reversing a 2021 reorganization that merged tax reporting and accounting into “trust solutions.”
This round of layoffs marks PwC’s first formal workforce reduction since 2009. Unlike its Big Four counterparts, PwC had previously avoided the widespread job cuts that swept through the industry last year. In 2023, Deloitte US announced a 1.5% reduction in its US workforce, while KPMG US and EY US both implemented 5% cuts to their respective employee numbers.
The Wall Street Journal report indicates that a confluence of economic factors is driving these layoffs. Increased interest rates and a general weakening of economic conditions have led to decreased demand for certain consulting services. Furthermore, a hiring surge during the pandemic, coupled with lower-than-anticipated employee attrition, has created pressure on consulting firms to adjust their staffing levels.
In his memo, Griggs emphasized the strategic rationale behind these measures. “Ultimately, we are positioning our firm for the future, creating capacity to invest, and anticipating and reacting to the market opportunities of today and tomorrow,” he explained, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
