Earlier this month, Fortune came out with its latest installment of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, and the biggest surprise is who didn’t make this year’s list. After a three-year run, Crowe fell out of the top 100. Why? We can only speculate, but with a big focus by Fortune this year on how companies dealt with the pandemic and treated their employees during the worst of it last year, all those layoffs Crowe did last April likely didn’t help their case for a fourth year on the F100BCTWF.
And because Crowe is a midtier public accounting firm with 4,300 employees and not a Big 4 firm with 60,000 employees, the pandemic job cuts will hurt Crowe’s reputation a lot more than the reputations of the Big 4 firms, which also did larger-than-usual layoffs/performance-based separations/headcount reductions/whatever you want to call it during the pandemic but still made Fortune’s list because … they are the Big 4.
OK enough about Crowe and let’s look at who did make the 2021 F100BCTWF, starting with Deloitte, which is the highest-ranked Big 4 firm at No. 34.
Last year Deloitte was the lowest-ranked Big 4 firm at No. 45.
Here’s why Deloitte made this year’s ranking, according to Fortune:
Facing down the pandemic, Deloitte did not wait for guidance: The consulting giant formed a task force, including epidemiologists and psychiatrists, to lay out how it would take care of its employees. A major priority was making sure staff had the assistance they needed to care for loved ones and themselves—from offering an additional two weeks off, to expanding support for dependent caregivers, to giving employees an additional cash bonus. The executive team also focused on racial justice and the root causes of inequity, hosting a firm-wide reflection to honor victims of racial injustice and expanding company donations to HBCUs.
All true, as far as we know. Also true: Deloitte laid off 5% of its U.S. workforce, roughly about 5,000 people, after its FY 2021 began in June. Fortune says this year’s ranking “honors the most heroic companies supporting their people and communities in the U.S. during this historically challenging year.” I wouldn’t call kicking 5,000 or more people to the curb during a pandemic “heroic” but maybe that’s heroic to some people I dunno.
Stats of note:
- Employees: 69,494
- Number of job openings: 4,000 (as of March 2021)
- Number of job applicants (last 12 months): 129,792
- Average number of applicants per opening: 91
- Number of new graduates hired: 4,144
- Percentage of women: N/A (43.9% per Deloitte’s 2021 DEI Transparency Report)
- Percentage of minorities: N/A (39% per Deloitte’s 2021 DEI Transparency Report)
- PTO limit (days): 36
- Number of sick days: N/A
It seems the Big 4 firms are keeping some of the diversity info they normally share with Fortune close to their vest this year so you can download their respective diversity, equity, and inclusion transparency reports.
Deloitte does offer college tuition reimbursement and student loan debt repayment but if you’re hoping for a fully paid sabbatical, you’re SOL.
Please remember that “normal” attrition around year end (i.e. getting rid of low performers) has historically been around 3%. So 5% layoffs same time last year wasn’t really all that bad