We are a little late on this, but WebCPA and Wall Street Journal report that Deloitte USA plans to layoff 900 staff or about 2% of its 45,000 US employees, according to their spokesperson Deborah Harrington. There seems to be no official statement that at least we can find on the Deloitte.com website. But we finally did personally see the Wall Street Journal article.
There is also an extensive write-up on this at the Re:The Auditors blog who confirm this based on the author, Francine McKenna’s phone conversation with Deborah Harrington.
According to these sources, “Just like anybody else, we are looking to cut costs,” said spokesperson Deborah Harrington. Further in an email statement, “In a move to align its workforce to better reflect business and client needs, Deloitte LLP is taking a number of steps to reduce costs, including adjustments to its workforce levels in the United States. The cost-containment program is taking place across all support functions and client service units. Part of the plan is to align our headcount according to current and projected revenues. Like our competitors, we are affected by a number of economic events, including the overall slowdown in the U.S. and global economies.”
If this is true, then Deloitte seems to be succumbing to the economic pressures which seem to have completely bypassed the Big Four firms (see Accenture’s confidence) and Deloitte’s recent whopping 18% revenue growth statement. Also it seems to be at odds with KPMG’s recently announced Global Job Fair, which would point to their attempt to attract employees quickly and cut through any hiring chain delays.
The other Big Four firms have not followed suit as far as we know, but can only imagine that certain practices within the firms must have been affected by economic turmoil (real estate, M&A, financial services, advisory to name a few), and the management may be prudently managing either voluntary or forced attrition in response to slowing client demands for professional services.
From the Big Four Alumni Blog
