KPMG warns UK staff will face job cuts
KPMG has told staff it is planning hundreds of redundancies, with up to three per cent of its UK headcount at risk.
The firm is the only one of the Big Four professional services firms to embark upon a redundancy programme in recent years.
KPMG blamed “a subdued economy and fast-changing marketplace” in an email to staff notifying them of the looming cuts.
A review into the scale of the job losses 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, or just over 300 jobs.
However, partners at the firm are not thought to be in the firing line under this review.
Other Big Four firms told City A.M. they do not have formal redundancy programmes in place at present, and the last time the accounting giants made large-scale cuts was in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
But a slowdown in activity across the financial world, including a slump in mergers and acquisitions, has left some areas of the businesses struggling for work.
KPMG’s review comes just weeks after Simon Collins took over as UK senior partner, succeeding John Griffith-Jones.
“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.