PwC scraps 211 jobs in corporate restructure

Accounting giant PwC has cut more than 200 jobs from its workforce as the company attempts a restructure that it says will help cut down on service duplication.

The redundancies come just a few months after Ernst & Young confirmed it would retrench 24 people from its audit division after making several redundancies over the first half of the year, while KPMG has also scrapped 20 jobs from teams in Sydney and Adelaide.

PwC was contacted this morning, but no reply was available prior to publication.

According to The Australian, PwC has cut 200 jobs in order to reshuffle its client priorities. The move is set to affect every office in the country.

“The new structure will remove duplication. Unfortunately, this means 211 roles from our 5,550 staff are now redundant,” a spokesperson told the publication.

“Many of the roles were from internal firm service areas and among administrative positions across the firm. These decisions are very tough and we have not taken them lightly.”

The decision to scrap jobs across accounting firms is reminiscent of the months following the financial crisis, when hundreds of jobs were lost as work dried up. Some critics say this has led to a skills shortage for middle-tier managers.

However, it has been reported the latest redundancies at PwC have focused on support services, which includes human resources and marketing, and is not tied to the current downturn.

In March, KPMG chief executive Geoff Wilson said he could not rule out further redundancies due to the current volatile economic conditions.

The move also comes after Luke Sayers joined PwC as local chief executive last month.

This article first appeared on SmartCompany.