Stragetic Layoffs at PwC Advisory US
All,
I was member within PwC Advisory, was told this week that they are making "strategic layoffs" and was let go the same day. I feel blindsided seeing how all my project reviews were on par or over par. I learned from people that a number of other A, EA, SAs were let go to lower headcount seeing how the practice was bloated. The majority of us spent prolonged time on the beach working on BD or thought leadership. That should have been a sign, but whenever I brought it up with the Partners I was told all was good. FML!
I feel like shit, any advice is welcome to help pick myself up and move forward in the job market.
I'm sorry to hear that. What office/practice were you in? I'd suggest taking a few weeks, letting it pass, prepping your resume with what you did in fact do, and then getting back into the experience recruiting process. Layoffs are layoffs, not firings, and if it's widespread and known, as it seems, you may have some sympathizers in the job market from competitor firms. May be hard to upgrade, so to speak, and go to MBB, but other Big 4 should definitely be doable.
Could you let us know the group / sector you were in?
I was in FS Advisory
Which LOS? TS? CMAA?
Any idea how many people were laid off? What level were you? How long have you been with the practice?
I was warned about this ~1 month ago when I was chatting with a partner at the firm about possibly wanting to explore advisory at PwC. Sort of a bummer to hear it actually happened.
You'll have no problem getting another job; I guarantee D&T, EY & KMPG are waiting in the wings ready to pick up PwC's scraps. Worst case, look at BDO, GT, etc.
Sorry to hear about this -- but think that you'll be well-placed to find another position.
I am curious to hear what drove this -- is this a result of the Strategy& integration pushing out folks from PwC Advisory? My impression is that FS is driving a lot of consulting spend, so curious what's going on
Not sure how accurate this is, but a partner had told me they may have been having trouble hitting their numbers. It sounded like the LoS may have been a bit bloated across multiple practices and industries. Probably means OP shouldn't take it personally since it sounds like a sales, forecasting, and general headcount problem.
Having a lot of spend doesn't preclude them from having too much headcount if it's a real problem.
I just got laid off too out of FS - thought I survived and then they had a second round. Was given no notice and it was handled very unprofessionally. I was a campus hire and now I'm panicking about how I'm going to find another job with so little experience. I knew I should have taken a different offer
Were you already working? Or have you not graduated yet? I was offered PwC advisory and I'm so glad I didn't take it. A few observations: 1) PwC's brand has taken a hit after S& integration. This layoff situation further exacerbates this image. Be glad you are labeled as a 'layoff' and it isn't your fault- a very managible position to be in. 2) Fresh talent will avoid PwC like the plague. (I was mulling a lateral to PwC- not happening now). 3) If you're still in undergrad, reach out to career services and let them know. My school banned an EB bank from recruiting because they reneged an offer on 1 student. And they can help you find a new role quickly.
Don't give up or lose hope, you'll be fine. Time to start reaching out to people. Real shitty of them to renege so late in the game.
Already working (class of 2015). My school is very well known and strong with recruiting. PwC did this to my friend (also an alum) a couple months ago... Definitely telling the career center. They're giving offers for 10k+ what they offered me last year and there's no way they can sustain that. This is whole situation is unacceptable
Not saying you want this, but F500 would still hire you. You could explain that since you're the most junior person you were the first to go. Since it's your first gig you should be fine. Keep your head up.
PwC at it again....
http://therealdeal.com/2016/02/11/pwc-near-deal-for-250k-sf-at-vornados…
I too was laid off without notice and do not see the point behind diagnosing the reasons for my termination. My circumstances are especially harrowing as I am an H1B so do not have the luxury of time for finding alternative employment. My advice for those who were let go is to create several versions of their resumes for the top 5 roles they wouldn't mind assuming next. I came close to an offer from JP Morgan but the MD didnt find my resume relevant to the role like the other three interviewers who couldn't sing anything but my praises. Now even with the MD I had an intelligent conversation but she had made up her mind after skimming my CV and no amount of banter would have made her revisit her decision to pass on my candidacy. If only there were a few bullets on my resume that broached product control instead of Enterprise risk I would have been at JP today making 20% more than what I was making at PwC. The layoff would have turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Bear in mind the markets are in flux, UBS & Credit Suisse cancelled contracts worth $500 mn with PwC according to one of my sources. But more broadly speaking , indices have dropped in Australia China Europe and the US. Negative rates have been imposed by the ECB and Japan upon their jurisdictions and layoffs have been announced by Credit Suisse . All this volatility affects the pace of the recruiting already underway and stalls hiring for the future as Banks/Consulting firms want to see how it affects their business.
So hit the bricks and secure a position before economic conditions deteriorate which they may not . But better safe than sorry.
Did you stay in the US after the layoff (being an H1-b) holder?
Send me a PM with your background, resume and what type of position you're looking for.
I am a first year MBA, and it appears that PwC stopped recruiting internationals (i.e. those who require Visa sponsoring) beginning this year - just another point to consider.
Expect this to become a trend throughout the advisory practices particularly within their financial services lines of business. Banks are beginning to cut down expenses on this front big time.
If you haven't already, file for unemployment.
Sorry to hear about this OP!
I'm actually not that surprised given the crazy growth in headcount that PwC had experienced in the past 5 years, despite the amount of people on the bench. I was in FS as well (but quit over a year ago), and during my time, I say the FS group grow exponentially, but could not staff as many deals to sustain the growth and impact on our margins.
My 2 cents on what happened: The major push for growth in headcount started back in 2010/2011 when all the Big 4 had the Big Bank Mortgage review projects that was required by the SEC for all the banks to have their mortgages reviewed as a result of the financial crisis. As a result, all the big banks had to pay a ridiculous sum of money to hire the Big 4 to do a 3rd party review of their work. The margins on these projects were ridiculously high and were a cash cow for the firms. When i entered PwC (2012), we hired ~350-400 kids from UG just to staff these projects because it was a multi-year project and a lot of money to be made. That came to a crashing halt in 2013 when the banks agreed to pay some multi-billion dollar fine to the SEC in exchange for ending that review program.
Suddenly, PwC had all these Advisory staff and not enough projects to staff them on. I was actually on projects where we took on extra staff as free work just because the group had too much capacity and not enough business development work to go around.
Moreover, I've been on multiple projects where Partners cut the price of the project by 80% (think $100k vs. $500k) just so that price wouldn't be an issue against Deloitte, BCG, etc. The issue with these projects? it still staffed managers (sometime multiple ones), Senior Associates, and Associates and often took multiple weeks/months. I cannot fathom how much those projects lost, but the goal was to get the foot in the door for the follow-up work, which we did not always win. As a result, they essentially kept offering work that cost the firm money to future projects that we couldn't win.
I'm sorry that it happened to you and other people in your class. But this seems to be something that was inevitable based on how PwC was approaching their staffing, project pricing, and ability to win projects overall. Keep in mind this was my experience in my office, and industry group during my time there (from 2012-2015).
Sorry to hear that OP. The most astonishing part, to me, is that PwC seems to be fine with laying off some of the most recent recruits only to offer a higher salary to the incoming class. This is definitely not cool- unless there are some explainable reasons. I am sure your talents are in high demand- wish you best of luck!
Wonder if other Big 4 Advisory practices will suffer.
OP, sorry to hear about what you're going through.
So far has this been contained to FS groups?
no it's all of Advisory
What's your basis for saying this? Can you cite other groups?
I can cite other people i know that were new hires with me that were also let go....BigMC
You stated this was all of advisory. Just curious as to what other groups outside of FS. Not meant to be contentious.
I'm also in PwC Advisory (in a relatively smaller group than FS) and I've seen a few of our associate-level staff let go in the past couple of months. That being said, those resources were on the bench for a prolonged period of time.
PwC is killing the fresh talents. I was asked to move out last day without giving any appropriate reasons. They are not looking at the root cause and are just behind cutting the and messing up the young talents whom they used to call it The Best. I was a campus hired and despite having the good ratings they slipped me out. #PwC. Not Justified.
I, too, was in FS Advisory and got laid off this week. My experience was the exact same: I didn't receive any notice and it wasn't based on any performance issues. I was a fairly recent hire, and wasn't even given an opportunity to do much. I'm very worried about my future and kicking myself for joining the firm. I would caution anyone who asks about working in PwC advisory to take any other job they're offered - even if the pay is lower.
sorry to hear about the job losses to all those involved. out of interest, where any of you on graduate schemes? if so, in such situations does PwC pay compensation? or is it different to people on the 3 year audit schemes? good luck in your career pursuits.
Ok this is so timely b/c this literally JUST happened to my friend at Deloitte TODAY. He was in the human capital consulting group and he said there have been multiple rounds of layoffs in the Midwest in his LOS. He said they over hired anticipating a lot of energy work (analyzing organization structures to cut heads for energy companies) and it never came around. That being said he was on the bench for a prolonged period of time as well. I think the key here is to stay utilized even if it is a bull shit project that no one wants to be on. The credit cycle has turned, and the business cycle is turning so we could see more of this.
This in inaccurate. Deloitte Consulting has not had any layoffs. CFA_CPA is either a troll, or his friend was let go for poor performance. We just got the quarterly update on Deloitte's performance today, and it's beating both the growth and revenue targets (which were already aggressive). They are still in double digit revenue growth.
Remember, Deloitte uses a generalist model, and has a national staffing model. Even if energy is going poorly, people will just go into different projects in different regions.
Human Capital consulting is not in S&O, are you sure they have the same staffing model?
Financial services at Deloitte consulting also isn't generalist.
I read about the Deloitte one on fishbowl - I don't want to pass any judgement because at the end of the day, I wasn't in the room when he/she got let go. I lot of people doubted my story too at first when I told them I was laid off at PwC, fresh out of undergrad, and with a high utilization rate... But then other people started popping up with the same stories. I wouldn't be surprised if Deloitte is laying off, a lot of firms seem like they're in trouble right now.
Just want to say sorry to all of those that were laid off. Keep your head up, take a week off then polish your resume and get to the job search grind.
Anyone that wants to use our resume review service that was laid off from PwC in the past month (has to show that on your resume) can use 20PWC discount code when checking out to get $20 off our resume editing service.
Either way, best of luck getting back on your feet! Patrick
ps - at least you weren't fired like I was 6 months into my "dream job" in private equity ;-)
It makes sense that PwC is paying new hires more and laying off second years. Most Staff are quickly depreciating assets. What do you estimate the useful life of an average staff is? 3 or 4 years? Why pay up for a staff that's already 33% depreciated/ burned out? They can keep the superstars that want to be partners, and cut the rest, and replenish the stock of cheap labor. Pretty smart move. Pretty PwC move.
Were most of the people let go hired straight out of undergrad? What about MBA hires? Thanks
I was a Team Assistant with Advisory and I just got laid off this week too without any explanation. My performance excelled and my snapshots were always rated high. I always had performance differentiators and my work always spoke volume. I was provided no reason other than the BST's capacity is too high and my performance was LOW! I asked repetitively to show me my numbers and I received no justification or explanation. Complete BS. Luckily, I have some connects still there and I will prove to them that I did NOT lose this battle. I know my worth and I will be back to prove it. Just hope I can land another position in the firm.
do you still plan to be in PwC? wondering the possibility of reposition within the firm after getting the termination notice
I wasn't terminated therefore the lay off is not supposed to look bad on my part. I plan on seeking opportunities in the firm but if not, I'll resort to other companies..
I was a post b-school hire
I am shocked to see this. Never thought the PwC cruise ship would hit the iceberg. I will say that I know a ton of PwC staff and that I am not surprised this has happened to the firm's practice given the 2010/2011 hiring boom. I will say that everyone should get into gear (the people who were laid off and people who survived) and focus on actually going into something they will enjoy career-wise... PwC as a career is no one's dream job but a stepping stone...
So did you never think it would happen or were you not surprised that it did happen...
In what city were you a Team Assistant? Tampa or local office?
Local office but I heard they've been laying a lot of people off.. No job security.
similar situation in Canada, AB.
Can you expand? I accepted an offer as an associate in Advisory in Alberta, have you heard of any rescinding offers?
Can you expand on that?
I am wondering why is it just PwC that is losing contracts and laying off people in the entire consulting industry?
They grew very aggressively in the past few years and may just be too bloated compared to competitors.
How long have you been with the practice?
Have any actual undergrad offers been reneged? From what I've heard in the US east coast most of it has been managers, directors, and in some cases associates in FS
Heard some other firms pushing back post MBA start dates due to lack of work.
Which firms?
Anyone going to point out that the title is "Stragetic"?
not really. seeing OP was most likely in a state of shock, we'll give him this one.
Applemenow - I am so sorry for you! I was also let go from the FS Advisory (Payments practice).
I had a partner who was absolutely great knowledge but the whole "brand yourself" , "entrepreneurial mindset" and demand management was a bunch of shi*.
I have friends in Accenture, Strategy&, McKinsey, Deloitte and other big names - but indeed PwC was very poorly managed in terms of leadership. The directors favored their star SA's and M's and BD/POV was nothing but sucking up for a project because demand management on that side of the world is best defined as stupidity at it's best. They had NO clue of what your strengths and weaknesses were and your coach was just a seasoned person who can give you insight on others personality.
So after being with the firm for almost a year and utilization under 50% and being told by majority that the first year is a freebie and that my partner and demand management are primarily responsible for placing you. I finally managed to align myself to a 1 year engagement after networking around the clock but was suddenly asked to come in the office and within minutes terminated and within 3 hours asked to hand over everything. I felt stupid, dumb, incompetent and Crap. Voices in my head telling me that out of 200K PwC globally WHY ME?
Looking back, and reading this post I feel sad for what happened to you but also feel glad that I'm not the only one. The financial services space is pretty big and jobs are not a problem in 2016. But from the bottom of my heart I hope the partners and demand management learn something.
You sound incredibly dramatic. The partners don't give a shit.
Simplest way to avoid getting laid off guys: Have visibility and be popular. Organize all hands call, send mass emails about bs connectivity events, let everyone know your name. This will make it more difficult for them to lay you off.
all this, for what? An X wise consultant told me - "consultants are like prostitutes, we need to be billable to survive".
Here's a typical pattern of partners , they are on their second or third marriage, with VERY few of them that are genuinely nice at heart . Now compare this to folks in the industry, overall, it's much better!
That's Big P guys. I was there for 3 years and was very disappointed. Left before they could blindside me. Only the partners are safe. Everyone else is at risk. For those who lost jobs, don't give up, keep looking. You will find a job. All the best. For those who haven't lost their jobs, watch out. Better get out and get a stable job, than being blindsided.
The utilization is pretty low from what I hear in many of the sub groups of FS.. An earlier comment about banks cutting costs is certainly true. I'm definitely looking to make a move. Any help will be appreciated on that front and good luck to others with stories of being let go.
Advisory manager FS, got whacked last month. Granted this world wasn't for me, but was pretty surprised about what I saw having come from industry a couple years prior.
Would be interested to know how many experienced hires stick around. Any idea?
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