PwC lays off 1,500 employees in the US amid restructuring and slowing growth
The layoffs, primarily affecting the firm’s audit and tax divisions, come less than a year after a previous round of 1,800 job cuts in the US announced in September 2024.
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PwC has laid off 1,500 employees in the Unites States—roughly 2% of its workforce—as part of ongoing restructuring effort, according to a report by the Financial Times.
The layoffs, primarily affecting the firm's audit and tax divisions, come less than a year after a previous round of 1,800 job cuts in the US announced in September 2024.
In a statement to the FT, the company acknowledged the toll of the decision, saying, "This was a difficult decision, and we made it with care, thoughtfulness and a deep awareness of its impact on our people, appreciating that historically low levels of attrition over consecutive years have made it necessary to take this step."
PwC's move follows a broader trend among Big Four firms, many of which have undertaken aggressive workforce reduction in response to slowing demand and overexpansion. In April 2025, Deloitte cut jobs within its US government services division, and on November 2024, KPMG laid off 4% of its American workforce.
The job cuts in the wake of a hiring surge that followed the COBID-19 pandemic. As per a 2022 Economic Times report, the Big Four firms had targeted hiring as many as 80,000 professionals in India alone that year—signalling a global appetite for talent that now appears to be recalibrating.
Despite posting steady revenue increases, PwC has underperformed relative to competitors. Its global revenue rose to $55.4 billion in 2024, up from $53.9 billion the year before. However, its growth rate of 11.8% lagged behind Deloitte (14.9%) and EY (14.2%), as reported by the Financial Times in 2023.
PwC has also found itself entangled in regulatory scrutiny. The firm faced backlash in Australia over the misuse of confidential government tax documents, a scandal that triggered political outrage and dented its credibility. More recently, Chinese authorities fined PwC and suspended parts of its local operations amid investigations into financial fraud—resulting in client losses and subsequent cost-cutting measures, including headcount reductions and lower partner compensation.
