Grant Thornton cuts 13 staff from its management consulting group
In a statement shared with Accounting Times, chief executive Greg Keith cited “ongoing challenges within the retail market” as contributing to the redundancies.
Grant Thornton has made thirteen employees of its management consulting employees redundant, all below partner level. CEO Greg Keith said subdued demand in the retail market had played a role in the decision.
“The ongoing challenges within the retail market have caused an uncertain outlook with materially subdued demand within the sector and as a result unfortunately we’ve had to make a difficult decision to make 13 roles redundant below partner level within the management consulting group,” said Keith.
The news came after PwC Australia announced it would be making 329 roles redundant while accelerating the retirement of up to 37 partners. The firm cut 340 staff only four months ago. Within a day of that announcement last year, EY let go of 320 employees across the country.
Redundancies in the consulting sector have been near ubiquitous in recent years. Fundamentally, the issue is one of demand - both among private and public stakeholders.
At the private level, a slowdown in M&A activity, subdued economic growth, and high interest rates mean companies are cutting back on external advisory services.
Government slowdowns, on the other hand, have largely been driven by public concerns over exorbitant outsourcing bills and the political fallout from the PwC tax scandal.
In October 2022, Minister for Finance Katy Gallagher announced cuts to external consultancy spending, as the Federal Government would look to build its internal capabilities.
Last year, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet welcomed a new internal consulting function, dubbed the Australian Government Consulting unit. The move came after concerns were repeatedly raised about the “hollowing out” of the Australian Public Service and an increased dependency on private consulting groups.
In December of last year, Gallagher announced government spending on the big four consulting firms, along with Accenture and Scyne Advisory was at its lowest level in ten years, while further cuts are expected this year.The Federal Government plans to cut $3 billion in outsourcing costs over five years.
Instagram account @theaussiecorporate first shared news of the Grant Thornton redundancies.
