While my layoff news certainly can’t beat that of my colleague who shared late yesterday that it’s a bloodbath up at KPMG Canada, I’ve got something a little closer to home as Layoff Watch ’20 rages on.
A tipster informed us that Prager Metis staff found out Monday that some were out of a job, while the rest of the firm would be expected to take an across-the-board 20% salary reduction if they wanted to keep their jobs.
My tipster writes:
Prager Metis did a whole round of Layoffs, furloughs, and mandatory salary cuts today.
We don’t have exact numbers on layoffs, if anyone has more info do let us know. If I were forced to pull a number out of my backside, it would be somewhere between 5% and 10%. Again, that’s an ass number so no one rely on that or anything.
Prager Metis has 18 offices and lists 400 staff and 61 partners on its LinkedIn page. Someone might want to update that, as we understand it pre-layoff that number was closer to 700-800 while their website says “over 75 partners and principals, more than 500 team members.” So who knows how many people work there, all we know is fewer people work there as of yesterday.
Anyhoo. The bad news was shared on company intranet yesterday afternoon, making it quite possibly the worst Monday ever for some. The salary reduction is effective April 1. Those who got the axe were told prior to the announcement Monday morning. “Happy Monday, btw you’re fired!” Tough.
That’s what we’ve got for now. As I said above, if you have more information or were one of the unfortunate few to get the chop first thing Monday morning, feel free to use the contact info below and give us deets. Or, you know, if you just need to talk or something. Our virtual door is always open.
Update: we spoke to Prager Metis CEO and Co-Managing Partner Glenn Friedman who wanted to clarify the cuts are 20% for three months or 5% annually. In addition, he informed us that four firm leaders are foregoing any draw whatsoever for April, May, and June. He expressed the deepest hope that salaries can be fully restored at the end of the three month period should economic conditions allow.
