It's OK - the Big Four still seem to be hiring thousands of people
While investment banks' Q2 results announcements have inevitably heralded a new wave of job cuts, Big Four accountancy firms continue to reveal sizable recruitment sprees.
Deloitte has just released its annual report and said that it has recruited 3,300 people in the UK to June this year (1,200 of these were graduates or school-leavers). KPMG wants to hire 1,500 experienced professionals a year to 2016 and Ernst & Young intends to take on 1,250.
While Deloitte says the recruitment has been across all divisions, there are reasons to believe that consulting, which has previously been buoyant, remains the focus of most Big Four firms. KPMG, for instance, tells us that its recruitment is "largely driven by the expansion of our consulting practice".
These tub-thumping recruitment announcements may be slightly over-egged, but demand is still very high for consultants in Big Four firms, suggests Rakesh Pabbi, a former consultant at PWC and KPMG and now CEO at recruiting firm Consulting Point.
Unlike the other Big Four firms, Deloitte held on to its consulting arm in the early 2000s and therefore doesn't have the same imperative as its competitiors to rebuild it. It's therefore recruiting at a slower rate, while PwC is expanding the most rapidly, suggests Pabbi.
"The Big Four firms are poaching from each other, and there's an increased focus on retaining key people," he says. "But there's also been a big gravitation of people away from independent consulting firms, such as IBM and Atos Origin, back into the Big Four."
Firms are looking outside of the UK, into the EU, but visa restrictions are limiting the ability of the Big Four to recruit internationally, particularly Ivy League candidates from the US, says Pabbi.
The good news for any bankers with aspirations to move across is that financial services consulting appears to be relatively busy. Deloitte, for instance, redeployed people from its public sector consulting division into financial services this year.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for most investment bankers is accepting the salary drop that such a move entails, however. Pabbi tells us that a senior consultant can expect 42-60k, a manager 60-80k, senior manager 80-110k, director 110k-180k and a partner 180k+. Bonuses below director level are around 20%, he adds.
"Managers have seen a pay rise over the last six months," he says. "They tend to have five to seven years' experience and have the skills in place to make an immediate impact on any assignment, and demand is therefore very strong."
E&Y also tells us that it has plans to expand its advisory division. It tells us it is now into its "second wave" of recruitment and has plans to hire 1,000 people.
