(March 28): KPMG UK has told nearly 600 staffers in its audit business that their jobs are at risk, according to people familiar with the matter.
Impacted employees were informed that they could be laid off, subject to a redundancy consultation, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. The company ultimately expects as many as 440 people will leave the business if the proposal goes ahead following that consultation process, according to one of the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing non-public information.
“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,” a spokesperson for KPMG UK said in a statement. “This isn’t a decision we take lightly.”
The job cuts are focused on assistant managers who are qualified accountants, the person familiar with the matter said. The proposal impacts roughly 6% of the division’s 7,100 employees.
Many of KPMG’s rivals have turned to job cuts as the consulting industry looks to rein in costs after years of heavy expansion. McKinsey & Co’s leadership team has discussed with managers in non-client-facing departments the need to cut about 10% of headcount across their business, Bloomberg previously reported. That could amount to a few thousand job cuts that McKinsey would stagger over the next 18 to 24 months.
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