PwC cuts hundreds of jobs as scandal, slowdown hit

afr.com:

The nation’s once dominant consulting firm, PwC Australia, will cut 344 roles, or more than 4 per cent of its 8000-strong workforce, as fallout from its tax leaks scandal and the economic slowdown reduce demand for its services.

The scandal has caused advisory clients to shun the brand and bedrock auditing clients also appear to be reassessing their relationship with its market-leading auditing business. On Wednesday, Westpac took the aggressive step of specifically announcing it would not reappoint PwC as its auditor when it put the contract to tender.

PwC’s cuts are the largest of their kind at a major consultancy in Australia.  Martin Ollman

PwC’s cuts are the largest of their kind at a major consultancy in Australia and follow KPMG cutting 300, or 3 per cent of its workforce of 10,000, and Deloitte cutting dozens last month. The local major advisory firms are also, variously, cutting back on recruitment, cracking down on expenses and travel costs, and deferring graduate start dates.

The local cuts come as the once unstoppable advisory sector faces a reckoning around the world after the turbocharged growth caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate aftermath. High interest rates, a slump in mergers and acquisitions, and a growing number of scandals have caused private and public sector clients to defer or delay hiring the firms.

Affected staff were told on Wednesday they were being made redundant. The cuts mean PwC will effectively shut down its Adelaide-based Skilled Service Hub. That will make 141 staff redundant, while another 197 staff across the firm will also be cut. Another six PwC staffers who declined to move to Scyne are being terminated and will not be eligible for statutory redundancy because they