Layoff Watch ’23: RSM Is Getting Rid of Some ‘Highly Technical’ Consulting Folks
Heard a few grumblings about RSM layoffs earlier today, lo and behold there’s a Reddit thread. Text: Hearing rumors from multiple sources that RSM is conducting layoffs today and for the rest of the month. Areas impacted today: Transaction Advisory Services. If you are a client of RSM, ask for a new firm. Partners sending […]
Grant Thornton Layoff Numbers Are In (UPDATE)
Ed. note: We’ve received some additional information about layoffs, see update at the bottom. The other day Grant Thornton sent out a firmwide email packed with words like “difficult but necessary decisions,” “values and culture,” and “continued investment in growth” to inform everyone that heads were soon to roll. While pointing out that “unlike peers,” […]
Layoff Watch ’23: If You Work at Grant Thornton, You Might Not By the End of the Week
Earlier this afternoon we received a tip: Grant Thornton to perform layoffs across the firm. Numbers unknown. Areas impacted unknown. Well then, that’s not very helpful is it. A quick search uncovered this Reddit thread from a few hours ago which along with many comments about how these hoes ain’t loyal contains what appears to […]
Intuit is Using Fear and Uncertainty to Snatch Up Talent
620 tech companies have laid off 184,616 employees so far in 2023 per Layoffs.fyi, up from 164,511 employees in 2022 and we’re not even halfway through the year. The good news is tech layoffs are trending down for now after a peak in January, hopefully we don’t repeat last year’s pattern. It goes without saying […]
Layoff Watch ’23: Deloitte Makes Some Cuts in Risk & Financial Advisory (UPDATE)
Apparently a 3% reduction was announced in an RFA (Risk & Financial Advisory) all-hands call today (April 20). Saw only one mention of it on thelayoff and many, many on Reddit. Like this one on the Deloitte sub: According RFA All Hands: 3% of RFA will be laid off, most of which will be in […]
EY US Just Fired 3000 People, Totally Not Related to Everest Falling Apart
Well we knew this was coming. Reuters: Ernst & Young’s U.S. arm said on Monday it was shedding 5% of its workforce, less than a week after the unit’s objection torpedoed the global accounting giant’s plan to break up its audit and consulting units. The layoffs will affect around 3,000 of the company’s U.S. employees. […]
Layoff Watch ’23: McKinsey Joins the 2023 Consulting Culling
McKinsey & Co. is joining KPMG, BDO USA, and Accenture in culling the consulting herd. Like Accenture, McKinsey doesn’t get much lip service on this website but it is worth talking about here because cuts from non-Big 4 consulting firms reflect the overall health of the consulting market which therefore affects the firms we do […]
Layoff Watch ’23: Accenture is ‘Streamlining Operations’ But Don’t Worry, It’s Mostly Back Office Staff
It’s a rare day we write about Accenture but because the firms we do write about have begun tightening their belts and even cutting advisory people (KPMG, BDO), we thought it prudent to inform you of what appeared in the 10-Q the company filed yesterday. This is from Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of […]
Layoff Watch ’23: BDO USA Cuts 85 People in Advisory, Wishes Them the Very Best on the Way Out the Door
Fresh off the rumor mill: BDO USA has cut 85 people from advisory, announced via internal email from brand new advisory head Eskander Yavar to all of his service line this afternoon. We were provided part of the email which reads: Today was a difficult day for our practice — we reduced our workforce by […]
Layoff Watch ’23: KPMG Let Some Advisory People Go Today
Article photo from a scathing review of KPMG’s metaverse space Alright folks, the moment we’ve been saying wasn’t going to happen to us now has: layoffs are here. Bet you feel dumb for saying firms won’t be laying anyone off because they don’t have enough people to lay off eh? I know I do. We’ve […]
EY Germany Gives 40 Partners and 380 Staff the Boot to Boost Profitability After That Whole Wirecard Thing
EY has been tightening the purse strings over the past several months ahead of the big Project Everest split, the vote on which remains delayed and should happen before the end of this quarter. The firm did not hand out mid-year bonuses in December and sources say that travel, training, and even hiring are on […]
KPMG Vice Chair Hopes All the Tech Layoffs Will Scare College Kids Into Accounting
KPMG Vice Chair Greg Engel has been having trouble sleeping lately. It isn’t climate change or social justice or the price of eggs keeping him up at night, like most accounting leaders he is consumed by the talent shortage. No really, that’s what he told CFO Dive. Not to worry, Engel has hope. Hope that […]
Guidehouse Laid Off a Bunch of Old Grant Thornton Partners After the Public Advisory Practice Merger (UPDATE)
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 […]
Deloitte and PwC Top This Indeed List of Companies Hiring Tech Workers
The tech sector continues to lay off talent in droves (don’t worry, it doesn’t affect you) and Indeed has helpfully put together a list of companies looking for tech talent to assist the newly laid off in finding a new gig. At the top of this list with the most jobs? Deloitte and PwC. Interestingly, […]
At Least We Aren’t in Tech, Boast Smug Accountants Who Didn’t Get Laid Off Today
Accountants, your moment has finally come. From the moment you chose accounting as a major you have been relentlessly teased and taunted. “Why not law?” screeched your mother. “Haha BORING,” said your little brother. “So does this mean you can do my taxes?” teased your uncle who continues to ask you to do his taxes […]
Layoff Watch ’22: Stanley Black & Decker is Giving Out Pink Slips to Finance Pros, But How Many?
A week after news broke about Boeing eliminating 150 accounting and finance positions, the Wall Street Journal published an exclusive on Sept. 30 about another Fortune 500 company cutting even more jobs in its finance department: Stanley Black & Decker Inc. has eliminated a large portion of finance jobs as part of an effort to cut up […]
Boeing Starts Layoffs in Finance and Accounting, Will Outsource the Work to India
Boeing will eliminate about 150 positions in finance and accounting in October as part of an effort to streamline these departments’ operations and will outsource this work to a firm in India. The Seattle Times reports: Boeing told nonunion corporate staff in an all-hands virtual meeting this month that it will begin outsourcing finance and […]
What a Sh*tty Way to Find Out You’ve Been Laid Off
Getting laid off sucks. It has happened to me twice in the past 23 years. I’ve also been fired once for poor performance, but unlike the two times I was laid off, I knew exactly when I was being fired. I hated my job, I hated my boss (I was her only employee and she […]
What Would You Do If Your Firm Fired You Early In the Pandemic Then Begged You to Come Back Two Years Later?
Remember that immature jackass you dated in your youth who treated you like trash at every turn, and then when they finally got around to ending things, they did so in some spectacularly terrible way like banging your best friend or “accidentally” posting your private home movies on various XXX dot coms? Surely some of […]
Layoff Watch ’21: Many Deloitte U.K. Executive Assistants Could Soon Be On the Chopping Block
After EY, KPMG, and PwC in the U.K. recently told their employees they only had to come to the office or go to client sites two, maybe three days a week once pandemic restrictions are lifted while allowing them to work from home the rest of the time, Deloitte decided to do them one better. […]
Layoff Watch ’21: EY Gave Client Technology Staffers a Parting Gift As They Were Being Kicked to the Curb
Before we recently learned what was happening behind the scenes with workplace services staff and on-site technology support employees at EY, we got tipped off from someone in client technology that his/her and others’ jobs were being eliminated or offshored. After a couple of weeks of not hearing anything else about what was going on […]
Layoff Watch ’21: EY On-Site Technology Support Employees Were Also Given a Voluntary Early Retirement Offer
We learned yesterday that EY is transitioning the workplace services portion of its enterprise support services team to real estate firm CBRE, which also specializes in facilities management. So workplace services staff have a choice to make: apply for a role with CBRE or voluntarily take an early retirement offer. Today we learned that about […]
Ex-KPMG Advisory Employee Is Pissed Off By Wave of New Hires Following Mass Layoffs
I was one of the many lucky individuals laid off from KPMG US Advisory last October. I was catching up with one of my former colleagues earlier and learned that at least 10 people have recently been hired to the group that I was let go from, ranging in levels from associate all the way […]
2020: The Year of a Thousand Cuts
When the largest public accounting firms in the U.S. had their employees move their battlestations from the office to home in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic, we had no idea what was going to happen next. But some accountants who worked at the Big 4 and the top midtier firms during the financial crisis […]
Armanino Employees Were Made Whole For the Holidays
According to a tipster, here’s the latest news regarding employees getting their money back at Armanino, the 21st largest CPA firm in the whole damn nation: Back in April, everyone took a 10% pay cut as a result of COVID. Yesterday [Dec. 17], our CEO Matt Armanino announced during our fourth quarter webcast that the […]
One EY Employee Is Getting Antsy About the Prospect of More Layoffs Next Year
With the stench of the performance-based separations layoffs from a couple months ago still lingering in the air at EY, one person who survived the wide-ranging job cuts told us recently that (s)he is already worried about a similar situation happening across the firm in 2021. Here’s what this EYer said: A few weeks ago, […]
Tracker: These Accounting Firms Have Either Cut Jobs or Pay (or Both) During the COVID-19 Crisis
[Updated on Oct. 19 with information about BDO USA.] In case you haven’t noticed, there have been a lot of salary reductions and jobs lost throughout public accounting over the past couple weeks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. And it sucks. So we’ve started compiling a list of firms that have resorted to […]
Layoff Watch ’20: EY Ireland Is Letting Go of 36 Non-Client-Facing Staffers
Let’s see, since the start of the pandemic, EY has done performance-based separations layoffs in Canada, Israel, Mexico, and, of course, the U.S. Now we can add Ireland to the list. This just hit our tipline: Not as impressive as the few hundred pink slips being given out across the US, but it was announced […]
Layoff Watch ’20: It’s Pink Slip Day at KPMG
[Updated on Sept. 30 with additional information.] Two days before the start of KPMG’s 2021 fiscal year, massive layoffs unfortunately occurred at the firm on Tuesday. We received confirmation that 1,400 people, less than 4% of KPMG’s workforce, would be notified this afternoon that they no longer have a job with the firm. In a […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Apparently It’s Doomsday for Some at EY (UPDATE)
[Updated on Sept. 23 with additional information.] EY management stuck to their narrative today that the recent layoffs at the firm aren’t layoffs but performance-based separations that were justified, even though many of those who have contacted us after losing their jobs said they weren’t on any type of performance improvement plan. First, before EY […]
Layoff Watch ’20: EY Canada Job Cuts Are Underway (UPDATE)
[Updated on Sept. 15 with additional information.] While EY in the U.S. is continuing to tell people in its tax, risk, and assurance practices that their services are no longer needed, we’ve been told that a second round of layoffs has begun in Canada, particularly in Ontario. A source said: Another round of firings has […]
An Open Letter to EY Management
Ed note: An EY employee who wished to remain anonymous asked us to post this letter to EY management regarding the recent layoffs at the firm because “management tends to ignore our questions when we raise them internally.” Here is the letter: Integrity and honesty are the foundations of public accounting. With great trust, the […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Hearing EY Mexico Is Cutting People and Pay (UPDATE)
[Updated on Aug. 10 with additional information.] We heard from another EY employee in Mexico who told us over the weekend that the situation at the firm is “worse than you may imagine.” This person said that the leadership at EY Mexico has allegedly given employees an ultimatum: accept a 15% pay cut by this […]
Layoff Watch ’20: PwC to Sever Ties with 5% of Its Workforce In Australia (UPDATE) PwC Limits Job Cuts to About 3%
[Updated on Aug. 3 with additional information.] PwC Australia CEO Tom Seymour said layoffs last month weren’t as large as anticipated—the firm let go of 250 PwCers instead of the 400 employees who had initially been targeted for involuntary departure by redeploying dozens of staff, according to the Australian Financial Review on Aug. 3: Mr […]
This Person Is Really Guzzling the PwC Kool-Aid
Saw this posted on Fishbowl a little bit ago, and I’m really hoping this is just a sarcastic PwCer having a little fun while working and not someone who believes all the tripe that comes out of management’s mouths:If you think this person isn’t being sarcastic and is trying to be a good soldier at […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Grant Thornton Is the Latest Firm to Trim Some Staff
Happy Friday, everyone! Hopefully you all made it through this week unscathed and still have your job. Unfortunately for some employees of Grant Thornton, they can’t say the same. We received this tip a little bit ago: Looks like GT will be cutting some advisory people and furloughing new hires and cutting some executive assistants. […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Dixon Hughes Goodman Is Letting Go of 125 Mostly Furloughed Employees (UPDATE)
[Updated on July 23 with additional information.] Another day, another round of layoffs at a top accounting firm in the U.S. This time it’s No. 17 in your scorecard, Dixon Hughes Goodman, which announced on Wednesday that it’s letting go of 125 employees, nearly all of whom were furloughed by the firm on May 1, […]
Layoff Watch ’20: KPMG U.K. Is Cutting About 100 People Loose In Consulting
Sky News reported some unfortunate news today, as the Queen’s KPMG has reportedly told about 200 employees, including nearly a hundred in consulting, that their services are no longer needed: Sky News has learnt that the big four accountancy firm has decided to axe just under 200 jobs across its UK workforce, the latest sign […]
Layoff Watch ’20: PwCer Claims Performance Ratings Are Purposely Being Bumped Down to Make Separation Decisions Easier During the Pandemic (UPDATE)
[Updated on July 17 with additional comments.] Two people who currently work at PwC in management roles have chimed in on this topic: one who is siding with the firm and the other who is siding with those folks who have recently lost their jobs. The first is a partner who emphatically says what these […]
Promotion Watch ’20: PwC Canada Welcomed 22 to Partnership Right Before Gutting 5% of Its Workforce
Among the slew of messages we got yesterday regarding the layoffs this week at PwC Canada was this one from a PwCer who was among the hundreds of employees told they were no longer welcome at the House of Marcoux: PwC Canada, just a week ago, was “proud” to announce their new 2020 partners, while […]
Layoff Watch ’20: PwC Canada Confirms It Is Handing Out Pink Slips (UPDATE)
[Updated on July 16 with additional information.] Ugh, here we go again. Another big Canadian firm is cutting employees during the pandemic, and the latest victims are from PwC. We got this tip around lunchtime on July 15: Lay offs have started in a few offices in PwC Canada, including me. I’m only aware of […]
Layoff Watch ’20: BDO USA Waved Goodbye to Some Folks In Advisory
This came in through the tipline about an hour or so ago: BDO Advisory US had a RIF yesterday… about 3% of workforce… low performers but also told it was due to economic conditions… guess the comp reduction didn’t “keep our family together.” So the email I got yesterday from a person saying (s)he was […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Rumor Has It That PwC Brazil Let Go of 600 Employees
[Updated on July 11 with additional information/comments.] A tipster brought to our attention this morning that several people on his LinkedIn feed who worked at PwC in Brazil no longer work at PwC in Brazil as of July 9. Here are a few of the posts, translated from Portuguese to English: And today my journey […]
Layoff Watch ’20: At Least One BDO Canada Office Is Downsizing Its Headcount
[Updated on July 10 with additional information.] Unfortunately we are hearing more news of Canadian accounting professionals losing their jobs. Although we haven’t been able to confirm yet if there have been firm-wide job cuts at BDO Canada, we were told by a source at BDO in Vancouver on July 9 that several people at […]
Layoff Watch ’20: RSM Is Apparently Lightening Its Load In Canada
Hearing word today that RSM Canada has started handing out pink slips, and the culprit seems to be lower-than-expected revenues due to a downturn in business caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a source, a practice leader sent out this email to staff on Tuesday: Although as a firm we remain in a strong […]
Deloitte Australia Has This Corporate Bullying Thing Down Pat
“It’s using COVID as a lever to change their working conditions. They have no choice — if they say no to the pay cut, they may lose their job, if they say yes, they might lose their job anyway. “Most would have accepted a pay cut because they thought it would save jobs. “In their […]
Layoff Watch ’20: EY Is Cutting Ties with Nearly 100 Employees In Israel
Today is New Year’s Eve Eve in the Ernstiverse, and with the 2021 fiscal year starting on Wednesday—and with COVID-19 not going away anytime soon—we’ve been told that quite a few EYers in the U.S. will be shown the door soon. Rumors have been swirling for a while now—from 300 of the 3,600 (8.3%) U.S. […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Many Furloughed Moss Adams Employees Are Not Getting Their Jobs Back
[Updated on June 26 with additional information.] A source at Moss Adams told me that, according to a video message from CEO Chris Schmidt today, 103 of the 370 furloughed employees were let go on Thursday. [Updated on June 25 with additional comments.] Another sucky day in public accounting during this pandemic. We’ve been told […]
Layoff Watch ’20: About 40 People In KPMG’s Marketing Department Got Some Bad News to Start the Week
In addition to the 350 or so people who we were told lost their jobs in the KPMG Digital Nexus group on Monday, we learned from a source that at least 40 people in KPMG’s marketing department were also laid off that day. A KPMG spokesperson confirmed Monday’s marketing layoffs this morning but couldn’t comment […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Some KPMG IT Folks Were Told Their Services Are No Longer Needed
[Updated on June 23 with additional information.] Another person who will be leaving KPMG involuntarily told us on Tuesday evening that Monday’s layoffs affected more than 350 people in the Digital Nexus group. Fourteen people had over 25 years, I personally have been here for 19. The 350 number came from my manager and several […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Deloitte’s Purging Continues, This Time In Australia
Deloitte, which couldn’t help patting itself on the back last week for forecasting a record-breaking $48 billion in global revenue for FY 2020, has just sent hundreds of more employees to the chopping block. First, the firm sent between 300 and 400 Canadian employees packing in May, then more than 5,000 U.S. employees have received […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Grant Thornton U.K. Is Forcing 70 Employees to Take Early Exits
Over the past three months, we’ve chronicled as best we could all the job cuts—which unfortunately have affected several thousands of professionals so far—that have occurred at U.S. public accounting firms during the coronavirus pandemic. Incredibly we haven’t been made aware of or read about any layoffs that have gone down at the biggest accounting […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Deloitte Has Begun Handing Out Thousands Of Pink Slips (UPDATE)
[Updated on June 12 with some additional information.] We’ve got some new info to share today, at least from the Deloitte & Touche side of things. A tipster told us the following things were said by D&T CEO Lara Abrash this morning during a call with her audit and assurance peeps: She confirmed what we […]
Does Punit Renjen Not Realize Deloitte U.S. Is Laying Off Thousands of People During a Pandemic?
While I’m sure he had good intentions, the timing of this tweet by Deloitte Global CEO Punit Renjen is a little questionable given that Deloitte U.S. is currently getting rid of roughly 5,000 or so employees and furloughing many more during the COVID-19 crisis. How’s that helping these people thrive during the worst pandemic in […]
Furlough Watch ’20: Apparently RSM US Is Putting Many Of Its Recruiters On Ice, Conducted Second Round of Job Cuts
[Updated on May 20 with additional information.] Nearly a month after RSM US told a slew of underperformers that their services were no longer wanted, we got word on Monday afternoon that furloughs and job cuts have started to hit the firm’s recruiting staff. A source told us: As of right now, it is most […]
Layoff Watch ’20: What’s This About Grant Thornton ‘Optimizing’ Some People?
We were told the other day that Grant Thornton recently got rid of some GTers who were not meeting their utilization goals. ’Tis the season for cutting loose low performers, regardless of a deadly pandemic and a shitty economy. Here’s the tip we got: They’re “optimizing” people at GT US in certain departments. Digital transformation […]
Pay Cut Watch ’20: Here’s What We Know About the Salary Reductions and Other Stuff at CohnReznick
Just the other day Adrienne and I were chatting on Slack about which public accounting firms among the top 15 or so in the U.S. have we not heard a peep about in regards to job cuts, pay cuts, or furloughs. One firm brought up was Plante Moran. The other was CohnReznick. Interesting timing because […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Apparently Some Grant Thornton Canada Employees Had to Give Up Their Purple Roses
We got word recently that the Purple Rose of Chicago Toronto has shown some people the door at a few offices in Grant Thornton’s Southern Ontario Business Unit. Here’s what a source told us: 1. Layoffs occurred on March 30th and April 14th. Appears select few senior leaders in GT are short term layoff decisions […]
Pay Cut Watch ’20: Cherry Bekaert Is Slashing Salaries Between 5% and 15%
[Updated with additional information.] Cherry Bekaert is the latest midtier public accounting firm to tighten its belt during these crazy and uncertain economic times caused by the coronavirus pandemic. We were told that Managing Partner and CEO Michelle Thompson outlined staff pay cuts in an email this morning. The pay cuts will last through July. […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Job Cuts Have Begun at Wipfli, Staff Pay Cuts Are ‘Last Resort’
Unfortunately here’s another top 20 accounting firm that we’ll be adding to our tracker of layoffs and pay cuts in public accounting during the coronavirus pandemic. Wipfli Managing Partner Kurt Gresens announced earlier today that the firm is cutting staff headcount by 5%, according to two sources. One source told us: Some have already been […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Here’s What We’ve Been Told About the Job Cuts at RSM US
[Updated with additional information.] Rumor had it that the hammer would be dropped on hundreds of RSM US employees on April 21. We can confirm that layoffs did occur on Tuesday in multiple offices, we don’t know how many people in total lost their jobs (but it wasn’t the 300 that was rumored), and from […]
Layoff Watch ’20: EisnerAmper Gave 44 People Some Bad News Today
[Updated with additional information.] We just got word that during a presentation this morning, EisnerAmper CEO Charles Weinstein announced that there have been layoffs at the top 20 accounting firm, according to two sources. According to one source, 44 employees were laid off today and those people did receive a severance package (unknown terms) and […]
(CONFIRMED) Layoff Watch ’20: Did This Top 35 Accounting Firm Just Lay Off a Bunch of People Too?
[Updated with additional information about the layoffs at Weaver.] The other night while I was trying to get some more information about the layoffs at Crowe and Baker Tilly, we got a tip saying that another top accounting firm had just laid off 60 employees. I hadn’t seen these layoffs discussed on Reddit or Fishbowl, […]
Layoff Watch ’20: How Bad Were the Job Cuts at Crowe and Baker Tilly?
[Updated with additional information.] In the past 48 hours, we’ve learned that hundreds of people were laid off at Crowe this week and many others were let go at Baker Tilly. Here’s what we’ve been able to piece together about the layoffs at both firms based on tips that have come in to GC: Crowe […]
Layoff Watch ’20: It Was a Manic Monday at Whitley Penn
We had a bad feeling more public accounting firms would be laying people off this week due to the current economic situation caused by COVID-19. We really hoped that wouldn’t be the case. But it happened. Today. This morning we learned via Reddit that Whitley Penn, which has six offices in Texas, was the latest […]
Layoff Watch ’20: It Has Been a Terrible Tuesday For Some Folks at Armanino
[Updated with additional information.] Ugh, the hits just keep on coming. We received two tips on Tuesday morning about layoffs going down at Armanino, specifically in Los Angeles and Dallas. But another source told us on Wednesday that the firm’s newest offices in Seattle and Irvine, CA, were hit the hardest; however, we don’t know […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Berdon Let Go of 15 People, Postpones Partner Distributions
Another top 50 accounting firm based in New York City has laid off employees during the COVID-19 crisis. We got a tip on April 3 that there was a number of staff layoffs at Berdon LLP and the third-party outsourcing group based in India had also been let go. But our source didn’t know the […]
Layoff Watch ’20: KPMG Australia Slashes a Couple Hundred Jobs
First it was KPMG Canada earlier in the week, now Edmund Tadros of the Australian Financial Review is reporting some grim news regarding job cuts at the Australian House of Klynveld: Professional services firm KPMG will cut 200 roles and slash the pay of equity partners by almost 17 per cent in response to the […]
[UPDATED] Layoff Watch ’20: Some People at Prager Metis Had the Worst Monday Ever
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, […]
Layoff Watch ’20: KPMG Canada Seems to Be Going On a Pink Slip Frenzy
[Updated with additional information.] We’ve heard from a couple people on Tuesday morning who confirmed what we saw on Reddit last night about layoffs that have occurred at several different KPMG locations in Canada. Unconfirmed reports put the number of layoffs at around 200 throughout the country. Here’s one message we got on the tipline […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Friedman Cut a Bunch of People Loose
[Updated with additional information.] Remember that article we posted last week about layoffs? You know, the one about that recent Fishbowl survey that revealed 41% of accountants believe job cuts will happen at their firm because of the COVID-19 pandemic? Unfortunately that became a reality on March 26 for more than 50 people who worked […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Cuts Coming at EY U.K.
The 2019 financial year at the Queen’s Ernst & Young would probably be considered below expectations. Revenue increased but only by 1.5% to £2.45 billion for the year ended June 30, while profits went up from £472 million in 2018 to £477 million this year. EY’s transaction advisory services and tax businesses both had a […]
Layoff Watch ’19: KPMG U.K. Reportedly Will Cut an Entire HR Division
“Project Zebra” strikes again. The London Evening Standard has the latest about the bloodletting going on at KPMG. Apparently some people in HR are being told to hit the bricks: The Evening Standard can reveal that KPMG is taking the knife to its internal training team – which it calls Learning Deployment Operations – who run […]
Layoff Watch ’19: KPMG U.K. Partners Fear the Zebra
KPMG U.K.’s better-late-than-never belt-tightening endeavor called “Project Zebra” is leaving carnage in its wake almost on a weekly basis. First, about a third of the firm’s 630 administrative assistants are losing their jobs. Then, employees had to give up their work-issued mobile phones. Next, average pay per partner is reportedly being cut by 10% over […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Grant Thornton U.K. Cuts Reach the Partnership Level
Let’s face it, 2019 hasn’t been the best year for the Queen’s Grant Thornton, and neither was 2018. Let’s recap: 2018 Stopped bidding for new audit work at the largest U.K. companies. Patisserie Valerie accounting fraud; Grant Thornton was the auditor and is under investigation by the Finanical Reporting Council. Fined £3 million by the […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Looks Like a Few People Got Disconnected From Deloitte Digital
Fresh from the rumor mill (and by the rumor mill we mean Fishbowl) comes word that 90 people got the chop at Deloitte Digital. We haven’t gotten any official confirmation on this so if anyone would care to confirm, feel free to give us a shout using the contact information at the bottom of this […]
Layoff Watch ’19: A Bunch of KPMG U.K. Administrative Assistants Will Soon Have a Lot of Time on Their Hands
So sayeth the Financial Times: KPMG UK plans to make redundant about a third of its 630 administrative assistants in a wave of cost-cutting. Between 200 and 250 administrative support staff are expected to leave in the savings drive at the Big Four accounting firm. Those who are lucky enough to remain at the House […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Outsourcing Dooms Accountants at UPS In Texas
The Dallas Morning News reported today that UPS is eliminating 64 accounting jobs at its facility in Coppell, TX. The reason? Outsourcing, of course. A UPS spokesperson told the newspaper that the package delivery company is outsourcing transactional finance and accounting work in order to let employees “do more strategic work that can make a greater […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Interim CEO Brad Preber Addresses the Grant Thornton Layoff Rumors
It’s Brad Preber’s first day on the job as interim CEO of Grant Thornton after now-former CEO and hero of the wastes Mike McGuire noped on up out of that seat. And boy did he have a shitstorm to deal with first thing. Rumors of Grant Thornton layoffs started swirling earlier this week, and no […]
Some Douchey Deutsche Bank Executives Celebrated Mass Layoff Day In Style
And the winners of the “Asshole of the Month” award are … : Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing says he reprimanded executives for having expensive custom suits tailored the day that mass layoffs hit the troubled bank’s offices in London, New York and Tokyo. Two tailors were photographed coming out of the German bank’s London office on Monday […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Walmart Accountants and Finance Workers In Charlotte, NC
The Charlotte Business Journal reported last week on some doom-and-gloom news for Walmart accountants based in the Queen City: Retail giant Walmart Inc. will lay off hundreds in Charlotte starting later this year as it outsources its finance and accounting operations. The retailer filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with the N.C. Department of Commerce this […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Accountants Said to Be Among Casualties In Ford Bloodbath
There was some big news coming out of Dearborn, MI, yesterday, as Ford Motor Co. said by August it will have given 7,000 white-collar workers pink slips worldwide, a 10% reduction in its global salaried workforce, as part of a restructuring plan to reduce bureaucracy and increase revenue. And accountants are reportedly among those losing […]
Layoff Watch ’19: United Airlines Is Axing 100 Accounting Jobs in Houston
Not-so-good news today from the Associated Press: United Airlines says it will cut about 100 accounting jobs in Houston in July and shift the work to a contractor. The airline reported the layoffs in a letter this week to the Texas Workforce Commission. It did not identify the contractor that will handle accounting of revenue […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Grant Thornton U.K. to Part Ways with Up to 60 Staffers
Some unlucky folks at Grant Thornton U.K. are taking the hit for the firm’s miserable 2018, which saw GT stop bidding for new audit work at the largest U.K. companies, the CEO not seeking a second four-year term after a partner revolt, revenue dip from £500 million in 2017 to £491 million last year, partners’ average […]
Layoffs Watch: Deloitte Business Tax Services
Here's some not-so-fun news that popped up on Reddit earlier with regard to Deloitte telling some tax people that their services are no longer needed: Couple dozen in Chicago, and many more in the local practice offices. Staff to Senior Manager, no-one is insulated. The OP states further, "Hearing rumors that it will be a […]
Layoffs Watch: Big 4 Texas
Here's one from the mailbag: Big 4 in Houston and Dallas have been laying staff off due to "performance reasons." I wonder if this is going to trickle down to other regions as well given the declining oil market. Good question! Here in Colorado, big names like Anadarko and Encana have shed jobs but there […]
Layoff Watch ’14: ParenteBeard Canned 22 People Last Monday
ParenteBeard, the largest accounting firm based in Philadelphia with nearly 1,000 partners and staff in 19 offices in Pa., N.J., and N.Y., laid off 22 employees on June 2, including 6 from its Philadelphia-South Jersey region, the rest spread around the firm's network of central Pennsylvania, New York and North Jersey offices. Separately, Albert Miller, […]
Layoffs Watch ’13: Rothstein Kass
It's that time of year when public accounting firms start showing the underperformers the door and we have our first confirmed across the board cut at it has happened at Rothstein Kass. The first we heard of the layoffs was in mid-April when we were informed by an anonymous tip that the firm would be […]
Layoffs Watch ’13: Ernst & Young Advisory
Another one bites the dust (via the tip box): There had been some concern among advisory professionals at EY that there could be a downsizing. It finally happened to me today at the [redated for privacy] office. Told that I appear to have topped out at Sr 3 and would not be promoted this year […]
Layoffs Watch ’12: KPMG Has Good News and Bad News
With regard to the aforementioned cuts, the good news is that some of you got to keep your jobs. The bad news is many still did not: KPMG lost 275 staff following a restructuring exercise to streamline the business. Earlier this year the firm announced it would reduce its headcount by 3% equal to about 330 […]
Layoffs Watch ’12: Mazars
The firm regrets to inform five percent of their employees, including "a limited number of partners," that they will soon have a lot of free time on their hands: Mazars could make up to 5% of its workforce redundant, as it begins a consultation process across the firm. Accountancy Age has learned staff were informed this week […]
Layoffs Watch ’12: Ernst & Young
E&Y Down Under is getting into the act, informing a number of people that their services are no longer needed and the word on the street is that some partners may be next: Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young Australia has retrenched 89 staff amid rumours that partner performance is under review and will […]
Layoffs and Compensation Watch ’12: KPMG
KPMG has made good on its promise to send over 300 of its UK employees packing, but, reportedly, there's a bit of a surprise for everyone who remains: Some 340 jobs were cut at KPMG following its headcount reduction plan, and a pay freeze has been implemented across KPMG. An internal email to staff said that […]
Layoffs Watch ’12: KPMG Cuts Have Some People Spooked
Last month we learned that KPMG's UK operation announced its "regrettable" plans to tell 300 of its people to hit the bricks. While there hasn't been any other Big 4 firms in the Queendom, the news out of the House of Klynveld has people concerned: The job cuts announced by KPMG could be the start […]
Layoffs Watch ’12: KPMG
Meanwhile, across the pond, a few hundred Klynveldians will have to find something else to do with their time in the very near future: Staff at the auditor and consultant’s UK arm were told on Thursday that it was conducting a review of several business units after reducing its growth expectations. KPMG said just under […]
(UPDATE) Layoffs Watch ’12: A Lone Wolf in KPMG Forensics
The aforementioned forced rankings appear to still be taking effect. A tipster laments: I just got laid off from KPMG's Forensic practice in Los Angeles [and] there were a few other associates in my group that got laid off as well. Our tipster claims that this is only happening at associate level although the layoffs in […]
Will Ernst & Young FSO Start Forced Rankings Next?
We're getting word things are becoming a little claustrophobic over at Uncle Ernie's house. From the mailbag: In NY – FSO (EY) apparently there are so many high performers at staff 2 that discussions regarding ratings are still ongoing to help normalize the rankings. "Normalize" is never a good word. Animal shelters "normalize" their populations in the […]
Layoffs Watch ’12: Forced Ranking Hitting KPMG Tax Groups
Following up on the news that forced rankings were hitting auditors across the country and rumors that it would be coming to the IT advisory group, the latest word is that various tax groups within the House of Klynveld are also getting into the act: There was definitely chatter in my group (M&A Tax) about […]
Things Are Turning Out Okay for Ex-Olympus CEO, Less So for Current Olympus Employees
Former Olympus CEO Michael "Go ahead and fuck with me, I'm from Liverpool" Woodford took a big risk blowing the whistle on the $1.5 billion accounting fraud at his old employer. In a show of thanks for finding the booboo, the company promptly fired him. A questionable strategy it seems because Mr. Woodford sued Olympus […]