You’ve likely heard of people in audit getting disappeared from KPMG in recent days, we certainly have. Anyone who tried to cope with a “they must have been low performers” might want to season their hat before they eat it.
WSJ reports today that KPMG is laying off a few hundred people in audit “as it works to make up for lower levels of voluntary turnover.” Meaning attrition is still too low.
The Big Four accounting firm last week notified about 330 people, or nearly 4% of its roughly 9,000-person U.S. audit workforce, that they would be let go in the coming weeks, people familiar with the matter said. The cuts have focused on employees such as associates and managers, and included no partners, the people said.
“The actions reflect our ongoing focus to align the size, shape and skills of our workforce to the market, while addressing continued low levels of attrition,” KPMG said in a statement to WSJ. “We remain focused on investing in our people to grow our business with quality.”
The Americas region is the only segment of KPMG’s global business that shrunk in headcount last year — from 66,892 to 62,781. Revenue results haven’t been released yet — KPMG is last to report of the Big 4, usually around December — so we don’t have a full picture on how their year shook out. All we know is that not enough people are quitting.
The last time KPMG did a serious round of layoffs was last summer. See: Layoff Watch ’23: The KPMG Workforce is Shrinking By About 5% (UPDATED)
Shortage? What shortage?
KPMG to Lay Off 4% of U.S. Audit Workforce to Counter Fewer Voluntary Exits [WSJ]