KPMG layoffs: Accounting firm to cut 700 jobs in US

KPMG has said it will lay off 2% of its workforce – or about 700 employees – in the United States. With this, KPMG has become the first among the Big Four accounting firms to lay off employees at a time when hundreds of companies are struggling to maintain profitability in an economic downturn.

According to the Financial Times, the layoffs were announced internally on February 15 by Carl Carande, vice-chair of KPMG’s US advisory business. Carande said the firm needed to “better align our workforce with current and anticipated demand in the market.”

According to the report, KPMG and other Big Four firms — EY, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – are struggling with the collapse in merger and acquisition activity.

“Our business and outlook remain strong. However, we have experienced prolonged uncertainty affecting certain parts of our Advisory business that drove outsized growth in recent years,” a KPMG spokesperson was quoted as saying by Reuters.