PwC lays off nearly 1,500 staff in US amid business review: Report

PwC has laid off nearly 1,500 employees in the United States, according to a report by the Financial Times (FT). The job cuts impact around 2% of the firm’s 75,000-strong US workforce and follow a months-long review of its operations.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the report said that most of the affected roles were in the audit and tax divisions. PwC had earlier moved hundreds of employees from slower business areas to faster-growing functions as part of an internal reshuffle.

Impacted staff were informed earlier this week on Monday (May 5) and Tuesday (May 6), the report said. Many received Microsoft Teams meeting invitations marked “time sensitive,” according to the publication.

A significant number of those laid off had joined the firm only recently. One employee who started in September told FT they were “devastated.” “Everyone was completely blindsided by the lay-offs today,” the person said.

Another staff member told the publication, “Some of us were up for promotion, but instead of a promotion and a pay bump, we’re now getting cut off.”

The firm is also trimming its campus recruitment efforts due to lower attrition rates, though it will honour existing offers made to last year’s interns scheduled to join later in 2025, the report said.

“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,” the company said in a statement.

PwC is the latest among professional services and technology firms to downsize in response to shifting business needs and market conditions. Tech companies, too, continue to reduce headcount as they recalibrate operations and investments, especially in artificial intelligence (AI). Google recently laid off 200 employees in its global business organisation, which handles sales and partnerships.

According to layoff tracker Trueup, 284 rounds of layoffs have taken place in the technology sector so far in 2025, affecting 53,399 workers. In 2024, nearly 2.4 lakh tech employees lost their jobs across 1,115 rounds of layoffs.