Exclusive: PwC set to cut audit jobs amid market slowdown
PwC is set to slash its headcount in its UK audit division, the latest in a series of redundancies at Big Four accountancy giants.
City PM understands that those affected are senior associates and managers in the audit practice.
It is understood this is due to low staff attrition in the firm’s audit practice, a result of aggressive post-pandemic hiring when audit and consulting services were booming, but the market has since plateaued, prompting firms to cut their workforce.
A PwC spokesperson told City PM: “There have been a small number of targeted voluntary exits in areas where natural turnover has been low to ensure we have the right skills in place to respond to market opportunities. We are providing those affected with the support you would expect throughout the process.”
Headcount slashes across the Big Four
PwC are not the only Big Four firm slashing its UK audit workforce, and this follows City PM’s Thursday report that KPMG was set to cut 10 per cent of its group corporate services division.
While last month, Deloitte revealed it was set to cut almost 200 jobs across its audit business, offering voluntary redundancy packages to a number of employees in response to high staff attrition in the practice. As many as 175 auditors, including managers and assistant managers, were affected, representing less than 3 per cent of Deloitte’s audit and assurance business and less than 1 per cent of the UK firm.
KPMG also made headlines earlier this year after making the move to axe 440 assistant managers in its audit division, alongside 120 in its advisory arm, citing that “current market conditions mean our attrition rates are very low within certain parts of our audit population, which is why we are proposing to right-size those areas.”