KPMG to cut jobs and freeze pay in deals division
KPMG is planning a wave of job cuts and salary freezes in its UK deal advisory division, with the professional services giant saying a subdued deals market and challenging economic landscape has driven down demand.
Around 110 employees, some six per cent of the UK deals business workforce, are expected to be laid off, the firm confirmed to Morning Wire
It has also considered measures such as relocating staff to divisions with higher workloads, the Financial Times first reported.
KPMG previously undertook job cuts in its UK consultancy business affecting 125, or 2.3 percent, of employees, the report said.
Deal advisory employees are to be told they will not receive pay rises this year, with KPMG staff previously being warned that this year’s bonus pool would be smaller than the last.
Other Big Four firms have made similar job cuts in recent months. Morning Wire reported in September that around 800 roles at Deloitte were at risk of redundancy under proposed measures, while bosses at EY reportedly told staff in August that it would cut more than five per cent of its financial services consulting team.
“A challenging economic environment has driven a softening in a number of markets, including the deals market,” a KPMG spokesperson told Morning Wire “These conditions have impacted demand in certain areas, as some clients have chosen to pause or delay projects.”
“We have therefore taken the difficult decision to put forward proposals to reduce our headcount in a small number of areas of our business. Our people are at the heart of our firm and our priority is to support them throughout this consultation,” they added.
Last week, the Financial Reporting Council slapped KPMG with a record £21m fine over its botched auditing of construction firm Carillion, which went bust in 2018.