Maybe it’s just an informational sit-down for the new P. Dubs tighty-whities that you’re all going to be expected to wear but our contributor, Francine McKenna had this ominous tweet:
Apparently someone else may have an itchy trigger finger. According to the comments over at RTA the emails have gone out to an office on the east coast but nothing more specific than that.
Keep us updated if you get a notice or if you know someone who gets a notice, or you know someone who knows someone, etc.
Tag: Layoffs
Layoff Watch: PwC November ’09 Edition
We’re not going to say that the pending endorsement of Becks’ undies has anything to do with it but that guy doesn’t come cheap.
Our contributor, Francine McKenna, is reporting on her blog that PwC Advisory cuts will be going down next week:
I’ve just received word: There was a PwC Advisory partners emergency conference call tonight announcing upcoming involuntary staff reductions.
(This time the source is impeccable.)New US Advisory Leader, Dana McIlwain laid out the bad news: The time has come to cut. Average utilization is hovering at 69%. Cash collections are millions short. Campus recruiting for Advisory has been stopped cold. Business sucks and then there’s the 800+ BearingPoint folks to absorb.
On November 11th the rank and file partners, fortified after training and coaching by HR via a webcast in the next few days, will chop 300+ professionals from PwC Advisory, at all levels, all geographies, all practices. Most have already seen the writing on the wall via forced ranking.
Well, crap. We’re not talking Lotus Notes developers this time around. If the guillotine does indeed drop next week, it probably won’t come as a surprise with the less-than exciting revenue numbers and the rumors that the firm was phoning in no raises for fiscal year 2010.
Oh and then after whoring themselves out for AHIP, P. Dubs turned around and folded like a cheap lawn chair. That probably won’t win you clients.
We’ll keep our ear to the ground on this but in the meantime, let us know if you’ve got more details on these rumored layoffs or if you get an unexpected email much earlier than next Wednesday. It’s been known to happen.
Veteran’s Day In PwC Advisory: Say Auf Wiedersehen [Re: The Auditors]
Earlier: PwC’s Re-thinking of the Bell Curve Ranking
Also: Ratings, Raises, and Promotions: Forced Ranking in the Big 4
Mavericks Need Not Apply at Ernst & Young
FINS has a short chat with E&Y’s Director of Experienced Recruiting, Maureen Kelleher, discussing, well, jobs at E&Y.
Highlights that you might enjoy find interesting:
Getting ahead: “It’s about being a team player — to take leadership responsibility but to not be a maverick.”
Salaries: “We’re staying the course, as it were. We have extremely competitive salaries. We reward for performance. Granted, our firm is not immune to the economy, so the proportion of all that is probably not as great as it has been in the past.”
Layoffs: “We’ve been watching our costs, and that’s about as much as I’ll say about that.”
“Staying the course” may simply be another way of saying, “It’s fair“. Also, the “watching costs” response? We feel Ms. Kelleher could have answered better here but maybe Big 4 rhetoric isn’t our strong suit.
Check out the whole interview over at FINS, and feel free to discuss your non-mavericky firm in the comments.
Maureen Kelleher: Ernst & Young [FINS]
KPMG Layoffs Part II Follow-up
It’s been fairly quiet since this past Tuesday’s layoffs but it sounds like lots of cuts occurred in national support services in Montvale, NJ. We also received a tip that the Richmond office let go a few professionals from their Internal Audit Risk & Compliance team which adds to the advisory cuts that were reported last week.
We also got more details on the Chicago office’s layoffs of tax professionals:
In addition to the 5 from ICS there were at least these:
• 4 in Fed Tax (Consumer Markets) – 1 manager, 2 seniors, 1 associate
• 1 in SALT – manager
• 1 in EVS – senior manager
• 3 in Fed Tax (Real Estate) – 1 managing director, 2 seniors
There were lots of rumors of it continuing this week, so continue to keep us updated. The bright side is today is New Year’s Day in the land of Klynveld.
Layoff Watch: PwC
Editor’s note: Francine McKenna is a regular contributor for Going Concern
We’ve gotten reports of recent layoffs of over 100 professionals in the Advisory practice and 40 in U.S. IT. The IT professionals were out of the Tampa office, including some that were Lotus Notes developers. Right. We didn’t know anyone still used Lotus Notes either.
Sources indicate that this was more “forced ranking” layoffs as many were high performers that were dismissed because of suddenly ‘less than expected’ ratings. We’ve covered PwC’s less than clear approach in the past.
PwC has not immediately responded to our requests for comment.
We reached out to Francine McKenna, of Re: The Auditors and she provided this comment:
“PwC is the biggest abuser of the “forced ranking” approach, artificially downgrading folks to make them feel lousy, alone, and uncomfortable discussing or otherwise reacting to getting let go. They refuse to admit they are overstaffed because they would view it as a direct indication of their inability to manage effectively (notice I said manage, not lead).”
If you have more details on these layoffs, send us an email to our tips address and discuss in the comments.
Layoff Watch: KPMG September Edition Part II
Layoffs of client service support professionals occurring circa now.
UPDATE, 4:28 pm: Rumor is that layoffs will continue through tomorrow. One source informed us that 25% of the Information Security Department in Montvale, NJ was let go. Continue to keep us updated with any developments.
TGIF
A few more updates for this weeks layoffs. We’ll continue to update you as long as more information comes in. Good luck to everyone affected.
Get Your Fix
Check out the latest updates on this week’s layoffs. And Bubbles is our favorite junkie.
That is all.
(UPDATE 4) KPMG Layoffs Follow-up
There are several cities where we can confirm layoffs but total numbers are hard to come by and KPMG is not returning our calls/emails at this time. Here are cities that we definitely know got hit:
• Chicago – At least five in Int’l Tax. At least one in financial services tax.
• Denver – Transaction Services
• Kansas City – Six to eight in Tax
• Houston – Transaction Services
• San Fran – Five in Fed Tax
• LA and OC – Several comments report ten to twelve in tax for LA, five for OC
• DC/Tyson’s Corner/McLean – Between five and eight total in tax and advisory.
• Silicon Valley – Thirteen total. Five to Seven Mostly in Tax, possibly some in EVS and one in Transaction Services.
• Seattle and Portland – Two in Tax for each
• Salt Lake City – Three in Tax
• Detroit – Three to five in Tax
• Jacksonville, FL – Two in Tax
• New York – Three in the transfer pricing specialty group in the tax practice. Three in the real estate practice. According to our source, these were performance performance related.
• Boston – Two in Fed Tax and one in M&A
• Nashville – Two in Tax
• Tampa – Two in Tax, one manager and one SA
We haven’t been able to confirm much out of the New York office, although it sounds as though Transaction Services has had some cuts. If you’ve got new details on any city, let us know.
UPDATE: See updates above. Altogether it appears to be over thirty-five in the west alone. Continue sending us updates.
UPDATE, Thursday, 11:54 am: Information is still crawling in. We heard that the number of nationwide layoffs for Advisory was 50, including 20 in the NY/Boston offices but we’re still waiting on more information. Continue to send tips in and make sure you note which office you’re in. Oh, and apparently the Dallas office needs SA’s in audit.
UPDATE, Friday, 12:30: Still a few tips coming (see updates above) in but it seems the worst (hopefully) is over.
UPDATE, Monday 3:04 pm: Just a couple more updates above for Nashville and Tampa.
Rumor Mill: KPMG Layoff Started Early in Philly
Not that Klynveldians need reminded but tomorrow is the rumored next round of layoffs. This time its rumored to be the tax practice and perhaps the advisory practice as well making cuts.
Someone in the Philadelphia office got their call earlier than planned according to a tip we received:
…one associate who received a phone call at 3:00 PM letting her know that her services were no longer needed. She was initially told this would likely happen on the 21st, but for some reason, the powers that be thought it more appropriate to call someone on the 15th
If you’ve got details on your office or if you have received a request for a meeting, let us know and we’ll continue to update you as we hear more.
Rumor of Morning: KPMG Layoffs September Edition
This isn’t how Klynveldians probably want to start their Friday but we’ve received a tip that conference rooms have already been reserved by HR for all of next Tuesday at the Radio Station in Kansas City.
If you’re throwing a birthday party that day, let us know, otherwise discuss.
Rumor Mill: KPMG Layoff D Days
A little follow-up from our request for the latest on highly anticipated post-September 15th layoffs. Here’s what we’re hearing:
Sources and some comments have indicated that the dates to be wary of are today the 16th, tomorrow the 17th, next Monday the 21st, and next Tuesday the 22nd. The word is that these will be tax and advisory practice cuts only.
KPMG did not immediately respond to our request for comment on these dates. If you have specific information on your anything going down at your office send us the scoop at tips@goingconcern.com.