Back in March, Jason let us know about a handful of layoffs out of Grant Thornton U.K. and now it seems the fun is coming to ‘Murica.
First, a tipster informed us of a shake-up in the Northeast Region, with the Westborough, MA office closing up and possibly more closures planned. Our tipster says they were informed GT “had a bad year” and that there would not be raises this year before being told the office was shutting down. No one answered the phone at the Westborough office when we attempted to call them, the call instead was routed to the Boston office.
Then comes this Reddit thread, in which commenters are saying up to 600 Grant Thornton staff were let go.
GT Layoffs from r/Accounting
Confirmed. The number is closer to 600. Spoke to many of my colleagues there and several of them have been let go. This includes a couple partners.
A source tells us that a tax partner in Boston and “several” partners in New York whose service lines are not known to them are being let go. As for the rest? Who knows.
All of this is on top of soon-to-be-former GT CEO Mike McGuire — an employee favorite, we might add — saying “no thanks” to an offer from GT’s partnership board to extend his chairmanship to his mandatory retirement date of July 31, 2021. Instead, effective tomorrow McGuire will serve as CEO emeritus and “brand ambassador” for the firm, leaving Andersen alum Bradley Preber to hold the bag as interim CEO until a real one is found.
When reached for comment, Grant Thornton Director of External Communication Jon Rucket said: “While Grant Thornton LLP does not discuss operational matters, it is committed to positioning itself for continued growth and strong revenues and is always reviewing its operational footprint.”
Since corporate communications is (expectedly) cockblocking me, anyone with more information is encouraged to give us a shout by email, Twitter, or text/call the tipline at 202-505-8885.
