Ed. note: a previous version of this article included “Rumor” in the headline. As it is considered confirmed, we’ve removed it. Update at the bottom.
Back in August when it was announced that Guidehouse would be buying Grant Thornton’s public sector advisory practice, we wondered out loud if layoffs might be expected as they so often are in situations such as these. First, let’s do a quick refresher on the acquisition as reported in August:
A tipster reached out to us this morning to let us know the rumor mill is churning over Guidehouse potentially picking up GTPS. “This took some people by surprise when they read about it on Fishbowl,” our tipster said. This appears to be the post in question:
An unexpected 2 p.m. all-hands call was announced by noon and per our tipster, the deal is going through pending approval from antitrust regulators.
Things are moving quick: the deal is expected to close in 60 days, everyone will be sticking around (for now), and they anticipate the transition will be about a month and a half.
We were told that on that all-hands call in August, one person leading the call told staff no layoffs, the other said “no large layoffs.”
According to information we were provided today, approximately half of the old Grant Thornton partners who came to Guidehouse via the acquisition have been laid off. 12 specifically. And three MDs. So yes layoffs.
Grant Thornton’s media department did not entertain us when we asked about potential layoffs back in August, we imagine Guidehouse will take the same approach but we’ve reached out to them anyway.
Anyone with more info is welcome to use the contact information below. We’ll update if we hear more. Friendly reminder, this is as yet just a rumor.
Update:
A tipster has provided more information on the layoffs:
Seven were laid off this past Monday including the former head of all GTPS. In total your numbers are correct. There has been no communication from GH to employees about the layoffs which began in November.
Of course also on Monday was the kick off for 2023 meeting where it was announced the largest partner class had just been promoted.
Guidehouse did not respond to our request to comment.
