A larger-than-usual number of partners at PwC are choosing to step down at the end of this year, as the Big Four accountant looks to boost its performance amid slowing growth.
The financial services giant’s 1,030 partners learned earlier this week that several dozen of their colleagues would be taking early retirement, after new UK boss Marco Amitrano sent them voice memo.
The departures, which were first reported by Sky News’ Mark Kleinman, come as several of the Big Four firms look to slash their overheads in response to a slowdown of business in the last two years.
Almost all large consulting firms engaged in a hiring spree during – and in the immediate aftermath of – the pandemic, as clients grappled to adjust to their new operating environments, triggering a boom in dealmaking.
But many businesses have since pared back their spending, leading to a fall in profit and partner pay.
The slowdown in business has also left departments in major consultancies and accountants overstaffed.
Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that PwC’s Big Four rival Deloitte had made nearly 200 redundancies in the UK, taking the total number of reduction in headcount it has made in the past year to over 1,000.
KPMG has also engaged in several rounds of redundancies in the past two years.
PwC appointed roughly 60 new partners earlier this year, who, as well as being given a stake in the firm, tend to rake in average pay packet of £1m.
They elected Armitrano as the senior partner for the UK and Middle East in the Spring, after he shrugged off competition from audit boss Hemione Hudson and the tax lead Lauran Hinton.
PwC declined to comment.
