KPMG to cut hundreds of UK staff
KPMG has told staff it is planning hundreds of redundancies, with up to three per cent of its UK headcount at risk, City A.M. has learned.
The firm is the only one the Big Four professional services firms to embark upon a redundancy programme in recent years.
“KPMG continues to grow its UK business in a subdued economy and fast-changing marketplace,” the company said in an email to staff.
“However, we have taken a hard look at our operations to ensure that we stay best positioned to continue providing the best services to our clients as efficiently as possible.”
A review into the scale of the cuts is ongoing and precise numbers have not been decided, but KPMG says it expects the roles at risk to total less than three per cent of its UK staff.
It is understood that partners are not included within the scope of the review, which is looking at a number of business units including audit.
Other professional services firms are not thought to have formal redundancy programmes in place at present.
The last time the Big Four made large-scale cuts was in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
“Clearly, any redundancy situation is regrettable – and KPMG will make every effort to redeploy individuals within the firm whose roles are ‘at risk’,” the firm added in its email.
*Amended to make clear that partners are not included in the scope of this review.