Deloitte Cuts, But Not As Deeply As EY and KPMG - M&A Carnage Continues

The falloff in the global volume of M&A (down 48% during Q1 2023) is triggering a reduction-in-force at Deloitte. FT documents the cuts, totalling 1,200 in the US, will primarily be in Risk and Financial Advisory which specializes in M&A transactions. 

However, the good news on this round of layoffs in the Big Four is that it's not as massive as those in EY and KPMG. At least for now. Multiple rounds have become standard. Post-RIF, there is no longer a settling in and exhaling. 

Also who gets the ax is related not so much to the company as to specific units within the organization. In this development it's the practice associated with M&A. This is confirmed on professional anonymous networks such as Fishbowl Consulting. Job searchers ignore layoffs at X or Y. Instead they seek out information about hiring in specific business units within that business.

Meanwhile, until M&A picks up all professional services, especially law, are vulnerable to RIFs. Professional anonymous networks Reddit Big Law and Fishbowl Big Law chronicle growing angst among associates specializing in transactional practices. Litigation seems to be holding up. 

The tipping point in large law firms could come this summer as interns and members of the Class of 2023 crowd in. That means more mouths to feed. Those already at the law firm two to four years could be pushed out. So could partners who no longer are major rainmakers. By that time the labor market for their skills, as in 2008 -2009, could be glutted. Some terminated might never land comparable jobs. Here is my article, published in O'Dwyer's, on the challenges of career change. 

The answers are within you. Get unstuck and open to that insight. Intuitive Career Coaching (intuitivereadings123@gmail.com) invites you to a complimentary session.

Meanwhile, ask yourself: What stories are you telling yourself and the world about you’re the results you can get? It's all about differentiation.


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