As KPMG makes bungled redundancies, is the Big Four safety net disappearing?
Banks are making redundancies and so are Big Four accounting firms. Accounting firms' redundancy tactics may leave something to be desired.
The Evening Standard reported yesterday that KPMG is eliminating 30 senior managers and directors. Staff were informed of this development via an email from an HR manager requesting that they, "dial-in to the following number to hear a recorded message from Julian Thomas.”
Julian Thomas is a partner in KPMG's Consumer Markets Global Advisory Business.
In his message, Thomas reportedly said:"The corporate business is facing a challenging market because of current trading conditions... [We are] 51% down on bottom line profitability compared with this time last year....Unfortunately we are now in consultation with certain individuals at director and senior management level across corporates. All individuals whose roles have been put at risk have already been contacted and are aware of this.”
KPMG staff were apparently shocked by the method of delivery and confused as to the scope of the 'corporate' bu
siness.
This is the latest sign that all is not well in the world of the Big Four. Last week, KPMG disappointed its recently qualified audit professionals by unexpectedly depriving them of a cash bonus for passing their exams. And at our recent roundtable for heads of recruitment in financial services, there were admissions from some of those in attendance that the consulting arms of their large accounting firms had "outgrown the market."
If you're concerned about losing your job in an investment bank, troubles at the Big Four seem like bad news. Over the past few years, Big Four firms have invested heavily in building up their consulting arms, especially their regulatory consulting arms, providing a safety net for former bankers with regulatory knowledge. Hiring in this area seems likely to fall in future. For the moment, however, KPMG still has 69 Advisory Risk Consulting roles to fill in London.
