Overview
- KPMG UK told nearly 600 employees in its audit practice that their roles are at risk, with internal plans indicating up to 440 exits if the proposal proceeds after consultation.
- The proposed cuts focus on assistant manager posts held by qualified accountants and would remove about 6% of the roughly 7,100-person audit division.
- A separate notice to staff outlined about 120 planned reductions in the advisory business, according to reporting based on internal communications.
- The firm cites unusually low attrition in parts of audit as the reason to reduce headcount, a move presented as aligning staff levels to current demand.
- The announcement tracks a wider pullback across professional services as client work slows and AI changes tasks, even as KPMG reported higher profits and average UK partner pay of £880,000 last year.