Last Update: February 16, 2023, 12:07 IST
KPMG is laying off around 700 people in the United States or about 2 per cent of its workforce, becoming the first of the world’s four biggest accountancy firms to reduce jobs in the country, said a report on February 16. Is.
Many financial firms have cut jobs in recent months, including major Wall Street banks, asset managers and fintechs, amid a turbulent macroeconomic environment that has put pressure on consumers and demand across several core business units. has decreased.
Karl Karande, vice-chairman of KPMG’s US advisory business, announced the job cuts internally on February 15, as the firm needed to “better align its workforce with current and anticipated demand in the marketplace”. . financial Times.
According to the report, like the other Big Four firms – EY, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – KPMG is grappling with a decline in mergers and acquisitions activity, which has adversely impacted its transaction advisory business, and a reduction in demand for IT and Has come Strategic Consulting.
“Our business and outlook remain strong. However, we have experienced prolonged uncertainty affecting parts of our advisory business, which has seen massive growth in recent years,” a KPMG spokeswoman told Reuters. told.
The mass layoffs that began with tech firms, especially startups, in 2022 are now spreading to many others, including financial companies, which have cut jobs in recent months. These include major Wall Street banks, asset managers and fintechs as they struggle to survive macroeconomic challenges that have strained consumers and dampened demand across several core business units.
The FT report claims that KPMG was trying to keep costs down by postponing the joining date for new hires, reducing travel budgets and shifting many consulting staff to the audit and tax sides of the business.
Many reports say that this is also a result of many firms anticipating that the demand for IT consulting and advisory work will remain the same during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though smaller than its peers, KPMG’s US headcount is set to increase by more than 2,000 to 35,266 at the end of 2021, according to its most recent public report.
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