PwC Australia pauses partner promotions until July
PwC Australia will delay appointing new partners for the second time since the tax leaks scandal broke, from January until July next year, and candidates will have to submit a new business case to justify becoming part of the partnership.
The move comes after the firm delayed its main mid-year partner intake in June, affecting about 50 candidates who were going through the process at the time. The new delay will be another blow to the true believers on the cusp of becoming partner and who have stuck with the firm through the crisis.
The firm has also managed to redeploy 37 staff originally earmarked for redundancy, bringing down the total number cut earlier in the month to about 300, or less than 4 per cent of its 8000-strong workforce.
PwC Australia chief executive Kevin Burrowes said the new delay to partner appointments was due to the firm’s “shifting strategic focus” and the “economic headwinds” hitting the advisory sector.
“The last few months have brought significant changes to the firm: publishing the independent review and our action plan, divesting Scyne Advisory, and beginning the process of launching our new vision and strategy,” Mr Burrowes wrote in an email to staff just after 2pm on Thursday.
“We continue to reset and rebuild our firm by enhancing our governance and culture – we received positive client feedback on our action plan and we are making good progress on this.
“At the same time, we are shifting our strategic focus and facing economic headwinds. This has led to difficult decisions, including the redundancies we announced earlier this month. These prudent decisions are not easy, but they are necessary to ensure we set the firm up for long-term success.”
Mr Burrowes told The Australian Financial
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