KPMG is cutting around 600 jobs in the UK, blaming low attrition rates for the redundancy round. The cuts affect both its audit and advisory arms.
According to multiple reports, KPMG is cutting about 440 'assistant manager' roles in its audit business and around 120 roles in its advisory arm. The audit business grew by 5% in its latest results, while the advisory arm saw a 3% decrease in fees. KPMG blamed low attrition rates for the latest redundancy round.
There’s a demand slowdown, but also structural pressure: fee compression (especially in audit/compliance), AI reducing delivery effort, and a shift toward outcome-based pricing. That’s putting sustained pressure on margins.
The job cuts at KPMG are part of a broader trend among the Big Four accounting firms in the UK. Over 900 roles were made redundant at the UK Big Four firms in 2024. PwC UK's consulting and risk practices both declined by 3%, and EY UK's consulting revenues decreased by 6%. The UK unemployment rate rose to over 5%.
According to City Am, James Ransome, head of consulting at Patrick Morgan, described a demand slowdown and structural pressure, including fee compression, AI reducing delivery effort, and a shift toward outcome-based pricing, which is putting sustained pressure on margins. He said that KPMG calling this out directly is quite telling. Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source Global Research, told City Am that historically, Big Four firms have relied on attrition as employee churn has been relatively high, typically 15-20% per annum. Ransome added that low attrition hasn't caused the issue but has exposed a model already under pressure from both market conditions and structural change.
KPMG calling this out directly is quite telling.
The exact number of total job cuts across all Big Four firms in the UK in 2025 so far remains unclear, as does the specific impact of AI investments on headcount. It is also unknown how the cuts at KPMG compare in scale and timing to those at PwC, EY, and Deloitte, and what the exact current attrition rate is at KPMG and other firms. Whether the job cuts are part of a broader restructuring or a one-time event has not been confirmed.
Historically, the Big Four and other professional services firms have been able to rely on attrition as employee churn has been relatively high: Typically 15-20 per cent per annum, and more when the market is growing fast, and firms are keen to poach the best talent.
Bottom line: Low attrition hasn’t caused the issue; it’s exposed a model that’s already under pressure from both market conditions and structural change.