PwC layoffs: Accounting giant and among the big four, PwC has laid off approximately 1,500 employees from their US team. As per Financial Times report, they are 2% of the entire US-based PwC employees across 75,000 individuals. It also revealed that most of the laidoff employees worked in the audit and tax department of the firm. Following months of review meetings, PwC had earlier shifted the roles of hundreds of US-based employees for faster growth.
The layoffs impacted nearly 1,500 employees who were notified of this decision earlier this week. They reportedly received a Microsoft Teams invite. There was no cap on the time spent with PwC as majority of the employees laid off had recently onboarded with PwC.
“Everyone was completely blindsided” as per the FT sources. Some even revealed that they were in for a promotion and salary-hike but ended up getting the pink-slip. It has been noted previously that PwC has limited their campus-hiring sessions however, offers given last year will be honoured by the firm.
What does PwC have to say?
A statement issued from the company read, ““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.”
Based on past-trends, PwC is not the only firm in a layoff frenzy. Deloitte, KPMG are among other big fours who announced job cuts earlier this year. It must also noted that, Indian startups, on the other hand, have witnessed a notable slowdown in 2025 layoffs. Down by more than 50%, only 1,602 employees have been laid offs across 7 startups till now.
Statements from the big four all read the same and follow the same pattern of “moderating growth” as their priority, putting the onus on “voluntary attrition” as per statements from Deloitte.
Tech layoffs
The year started with a heightened number of layoffs across tech firms like Google, Microsoft, Met and Infosys. More than 23,500 employees were given the bump across 93 companies in 2025 as per Layoffs.fyi. It wasn’t limited to just the big players in the game, Canva, WordPress, TikTok, Ola Electric, and HP joined the list too.