PwC Is Slashing 1,800 Jobs From Its US Unit – RetailWire

For the first time in 15 years, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is reducing staff. About 1,800 workers are losing their jobs as the accounting firm restructures in response to weaker demand for its services.

Employees in PwC’s advisory as well as products and technology units will be affected. From associates to managing directors, the cuts will include U.S. and overseas workers across different business services.

“There will be an element of resource action that will impact a relatively small proportion of our people, something that is never easy,” Paul Griggs, PwC’s U.S. leader, said in a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal. 

According to Griggs, PwC needs to integrate various products and technology teams into other business lines as well as consolidate business services. Shortly after Griggs took over earlier this year, he implemented a plan to split the company’s U.S. group from two business lines into three. Previously, PwC’s trust solutions unit comprised both its tax-reporting and accounting businesses, yet the tax side became its own segment in July.

“To remain competitive and position our business for the future, we are continuing to transform areas of our firm and are aligning our workforce to better support our strategy, including attracting and moving the right talent and skill sets to the areas where we need them most,” said Tim Grady, PwC’s U.S. chief operating officer, per The Wall Street Journal.

The last time PwC’s U.S. business segment laid off workers was in 2009. However, the company made some restructuring moves in 2017 that included offering numerous employees new roles or the option to resign if declined.

PwC staffers in the U.K. were also recently hit with a company change. A memo sent from U.K. managing partner Laura Hinton informed 26,000 employees that the company will be monitoring when they work from home. Working location data will be shared with employees every month. According to Hinton, the policy will hopefully encourage workers to come into the office more often.

A previous directive required employees to work on-site at least two to three days per week. According to CNN, the new rules make it mandatory for staff to spend 60%, or three days, of their time in the PwC office. The updated work-from-home policy falls in line with other companies that have enacted similar rules.