Layoff Watch ’26: Deloitte’s Cutting Tax People. Yes, in January

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez
Deloitte building exterior with scissors overlay

Sure as hell didn’t expect our first layoffs of 2026 to come this early and definitely not in tax and definitely not senior managers on top of it but here we are. Tip that just came through:

Tax layoffs at Deloitte. Multiple senior managers at my office (East Coast) were laid off. Reason given was just business performance/cost.

Our tipster followed up to say people are feeling blindsided. “It was SMs that had a lot of work too so their teams are feeling very stressed,” they said.

There’s also been some buzz on Reddit:

Wonderful start to the year.

We’ll let you know if we can get numbers. If anyone wants to share more details or simply vent, you may email or text us anytime.

Related Posts

New Leadership Appointment Causes Unrest Inside Deloitte Advisory

As we’ve discussed, there has been a bit of controversy around the leadership election process at Deloitte. We first reported this news to you in January with a follow-up story on the candidates, the sorry turnout that was expected, and finally the news that the three candidates had been elected to their respective positions.

Today we have more controversy from inside the house of D but this time it is from a sub-group in the Enterprise Risk Services (aka Advisory or “ERS”) practice. There have been a number of recent leadership appointments within ERS but one in particular that caused a Deloitte partner to reach out to GC. This individual belongs to the Security and Privacy Practice (“S&P”) which consists of approximately 80-90 partners and has been recognized as one of the “12 leading global information security & risk consulting service providers” by Forrester Research Leader for their expertise in this area, according to the Deloitte website.

According to our source, the issue that has caused concern amongst many partners in the S&P group is that the new leader does not have extensive experience in the Security & Privacy area. Our source explained to us that a recent theme inside the firm has been “leading from the front” best encapsulated by leaders like Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and others who lead based on setting an example. The feeling of the S&P partners is the most recent appointment is based more on cronyism rather than qualifications and past performance.

The leader of the ERS group who makes the appointments is Owen Ryan, a Deloitte veteran who has held several leadership positions at the firm and has led ERS for the past 2-3 years. Our source told us Mr. Ryan has run the advisory practice creating an environment of cronyism and nepotism by appointing individuals, including family members, closest to him and that this appointment in S&P has partners saying this is the latest example of “the emperor having no clothes.” S&P supposedly has many qualified partners who have held leadership positions in the past who could lead the group but were passed over. This has many of them worried about what will become of their reputation as a top service provider in the area and how clients will perceive this appointment.

We spoke to a former Deloitte partner who worked in the Securitization and Structured Products Group (also part of ERS) who confirmed these allegations of nepotism and cronyism. “I wouldn’t go so far to extrapolate what occurred in our group to others,” the former partner said, “but that was certainly my experience.”

Despite this, one insider who is familiar with the leadership at Deloitte described Mr. Ryan as a “results-oriented businessman” who is cognizant of how “his decisions will reflect on him.” This source further told GC that “[Mr. Ryan] would not compromise the potential success of the ERS group by appointing someone to a leadership position who wasn’t qualified.”

Mr. Ryan’s no-nonsense style has manifested itself into some interesting behavior. Our original source told us that he takes attendance at ERS partner meetings and fines individuals $20 for using their BlackBerrys or speaking to neighbors during them. Our source said the money collected goes to charity.

Mr. Ryan did not respond to our voicemail requesting an interview.

The concern in S&P is understandable; an outsider leading a niche group would rankle the feathers of the most laid back partner. However, these decisions are rarely made in a vacuum and Mr. Ryan has his own superiors to report to. The other aspect to consider is the difference between technical leadership and what one source called “visual” leadership. There are many partners capable of leading a practice based on technical merits but the vision and flexibility needed to keep a group progressive in a fast-paced market does not always accompany technical expertise. Quite simply, if the leadership appointments that are made on Mr. Ryan’s watch do not prove successful, he will certainly be held responsible, but there is a lot of concern that the reputations of many of the firm’s best service lines may suffer in the process.

Porn-Extortion Plot Didn’t Turn Out Too Well for Ex-Deloitte Partner

This story goes back before GC’s time so we’ll give you some background: Steven Klig was a hotshot tax partner at Deloitte until he was arrested for extorting an ex-lover back in January 2009.

Since most tax partners we know have to beat off the ladies with a stick in each hand, this seems unbelievable but apparently, Klig didn’t have the typical IRC wonky charm and was a little miffed that a lover wasn’t interested in him any more.


His frustration reached critical levels which resulted in emails to the lover, who he tracked down on the web and claimed that he had a DVD of them getting down. Lucky for us, the Post just so happened to get its hands on a copy of the email back in January ’09:

“Just to give you a head’s up. I’ve been doing a little editing on our video. Mostly some blurring of myself so that I won’t be recognized,” he wrote in one e-mail, according to the criminal complaint. You, on the other hand, can be seen very clearly having the time of your life being f—ed by me.”

Despite the good times, the woman went to the FBI after Klig emailed her husband trying to get a hold of her email address. An agent posing as the woman responded to Klig:

[A]sking what he wanted and pleading, “I want to keep my family out of this.”

He allegedly responded, “I don’t need money. What I really want is something new to look at.”

Klig then allegedly detailed his preferences for the “first installment” as: “(1) fully clothed; (2) without your shirt; (3) without your shirt and pants (in just a bra and panties); (4) without the bra and (5) fully nude.”

And the best part? He sent some of these emails while he was on vacation. At Disney World. With his wife and kids. Can’t you see it? You’re walking around Epcot, surrounded by shrieking children, grown adults dressed as princesses, talking animals, and overgrown dwarves; what a perfect opportunity to extort some porn out of an uncooperative ex-lover!

According to the Post, Klig pleaded guilty to lesser charge in order to avoid serious time although the judge indicated he could face up to a year in prison where he may or may not have the time of his life.

Tax lawyer pleads guilty in porno-extort scheme [NYP]

Higher-ups at Deloitte Aren’t Sure Why Employees Are Still in ‘Shock Mode’ From the Last Few Years

All the good times at the Deloitte – Jim Quigley on the teevee, surprise raises, leaving PwC in the dust – hasn’t gotten green-dot morale to acceptable levels.

Accordingly, some of the senior partners in the advisory practice have taken it upon themselves to remind everyone how things are turning around.

From a green-dot familiar with the situation:

There has been an up-tick in senior partner communication recently – mostly in the form of mass e-mail communications, published “Your Questions Answered” videos and in-person “Straight-Talk” sessions – seeming aimed at reassuring the masses that Deloitte’s on its way to the promised land. The message is pretty clear that we’ve survived the recession, are hiring like crazy, are bringing in new business at a solid clip and that we’re spanking our competition (i.e., need to look into the rear-view mirror to find PwC and gang).

This, of course, is in contrast to what we in the trenches feel; that our compensation isn’t mirroring our level of output, that we can’t staff engagements because we don’t have enough resources and that all of our friends are leaving for our competitors. This disparity is acknowledged by the partnership; and at least at one straight talk session, we were told that they can’t figure out why we don’t see the light. It was then proposed that we’re still in “shock mode” because of the last few years; but this observer thinks it’s more that we’re working so hard to produce results for the partners that we can’t see the light because the only free time we have is the few hours of twilight that exists each day – and that’s for sleeping (or other creative stress reducing activities ).

Btw, not sure what you’re hearing; but in my group-region alone, I know of 8 people who have left in the last month (the group-region is about 120 people).

Okay then – so it boils down to either being in “shock mode” or your terrible attitude. Share your position on the matter and what camp you fall into below.

19 thoughts on “Layoff Watch ’26: Deloitte’s Cutting Tax People. Yes, in January”

  1. They’re just making sure they start off the year with the “right” team.

    On a serious note why would you let go of tax people in January? I get April, May, or June…but January? Did Deloitte lose a ton of business or did they just go on a hiring spree in India?

    11
    2

    1. this is not tax or audit – the months that you state are not central to consulting services. Government mandates are shrinking in size and profitability metrics.

      1
      11

  2. It’s cheaper to hire new accountants in India than in the United States, and the quality difference is negligible. People complain about affordability but when faced with the reality of purging domestic jobs, people get so incensed. Until we see more quality within the US, this trend will continue.

    7
    14

      1. Don’t let your privilege expose your xenophobia. Instead, just sip your Bud and watch some professional wrasslin’.

        2
        10

        1. Truth hurts huh?

          Stating the obvious about low quality Indian work is not, ahem, “xenophobia”.

          It’s fact.

          6
          2

      1. Obviously you have never dealt with the American Gan Zers who have never found a deadline that they could meet.

        3
        7

      2. Bruh. Is your Chinese made iPhone substandard? What about your Mexican made Toyota? Vietnamese made TV? It’s a global economy. You are really going to say that any accountant who is Indian is substandard? India has 350 billionaires, 3rd largest in the world. Go to any country in the world and you will find princes and paupers. The problem with the Big 4 and many US accounting firms is they get what they pay for and they don’t give two craps about their employees. Top Indian talent is no cheaper than US talent and these firms are hiring the absolute cheapest labor they can find or working people as hard as they can. Anyways, bruh. None of this matters. AI (Another Indian) will simply get replaced with AI or if AI is bullcrap then another country with lower labor costs. If you are a true manager you can work with anyone from any country. Is the problem the teacher or the student? Anyways, accountants gonna be accountants (cheap AF).

    3. > and the quality difference is negligible.

      Said nobody onshore ever who has had to eat hours fixing the offshore deliverable.

      11
      0

      1. Gen Zers offer little to no quality at all. For those of us with brains, it’s economically prudent to hire from India than hire the domestic/entitled talent.

        4

  4. I think they are hiring from India at very low CTC from top colleges IIT’s.
    They will give rigorous training, then work with low increment and few promotion, after few years reasons and last “Layoffs”.
    Repeat hiring and so on…..

    1

  5. They are laying off people who is not on the PPMD track. No point of keeping heavy career SM if new talent is making to SM level.

    9
    1

  7. Welp this makes sense now, Deloitte just announced plans to hire 50K employees in India…when is India gonna wake up because their working conditions are the stuff of nightmares.

    3

  8. That’s offshoring … People in india work for 20% of the cost, don’t b*tch around for wanting to bring their pets to the office or needing a real purpose in their job and do the work 90% as good.

Comments are closed.