After seeing a decline in income from corporate customers in China, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is reportedly laying off employees across all of its offices in the country.
Reports have claimed that PwC China is laying off at least 100 employees across several teams at its offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and elsewhere in China. According to a source, almost 50% of one team was let go. It was not immediately apparent what the eventual toll of cutbacks would be.
According to their website, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) is a network of professional service providers that aids businesses and people in developing their potential.
Consulting Solutions and Trust Solutions are two divisions of PwC that provide a variety of services, such as assurance, auditing services, tax services, strategy management, HR consulting, risk, cybersecurity, privacy, environmental, social, and governance (ESG).
In response to adjustments in the external environment, PwC is reorganizing its internal processes to better meet client needs. The company has said that it is in constant communication with its employees and will comply with all applicable Chinese labor rules, but it has not disclosed the exact number of employees who have been let go. Some PwC China employees left in search of other employment, alarmed by the prospect of regulatory fines and the potential loss of Chinese customers.
In the wake of PwC’s suspected involvement in accounting fraud at China Evergrande Group, a realty developer, more than 30 publicly traded businesses in China have removed the company as their internal auditor this year, and they may even stop PwC’s onshore activities in some cases.
In mainland China, PwC’s onshore affiliate, PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian LLP, has almost 1,700 accountants and 291 partners as of the end of last year. With audits of nearly 400 Chinese companies listed in New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, or Shenzhen, the business topped all mainland Chinese accounting firms in terms of revenue in 2022.
Other jurisdictions have challenged the auditor. A whistleblower tip about PwC prompted the Hong Kong accounting authority to announce its intention to investigate claims regarding the accounting firm’s involvement in the audits of Evergrande’s financial statements.
In a previous announcement, the accounting firm pledged to strengthen governance measures in Australia in response to concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving the disclosure of confidential tax plans to clients. A separate fine was levied on its UK network for failing to audit Babcock International Group Plc.
