More than 350 Australians will lose their jobs as consultancy firm PwC announces a significant structural overhaul after a tax scandal.
PwC Australia confirmed to Yahoo Finance that 329 roles would be made redundant and a further 37 partners would have their retirement fast-tracked, with the announcement made internally on Wednesday.
“All people impacted will be contacted in the coming days, and, where possible, individuals will be invited to apply for new roles created by the changes in our business structure,” a statement from PwC said.
“These roles will be advertised internally, before being put to market.”
This comes after PwC’s tax practice was found to have misused confidential government briefings to help clients bend incoming tax laws.
“This has been a very challenging and complex process, but an important one, as we realign our business structure with our new long-term strategy,” PwC Australia CEO Kevin Burrowes said.
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“I’m extremely proud of the contribution every individual at PwC Australia makes to this firm and their ongoing commitment to producing exceptional results for our clients.
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“We acknowledge that days like today are especially difficult for those affected, as well as their teams and colleagues. I can assure you that we will work closely with impacted individuals to ensure they are aware of their options and next steps.
“At its heart, this reorganisation will make the firm a more simplified, efficient and centre-led business, enabling us to continue delivering the highest quality of service to our corporate and private-sector clients.”
Almost 350 jobs were cut last year, including the early retirement of several partners.
PwC is one of the world’s ‘big four’ consultancy and auditing firms.
Consulting firm Axum has announced acquisition of top managers and staff from programme implementation firm Dalberg Implement.
In a statement, Axum said the move will amplify impact and empower communities on a larger scale by leveraging combined expertise in collaborative and sustainable initiative-building.
This comes at a time of increased existential risks that the world is facing, necessitating rapid shifts in the impact sector including in the creation of innovative, locally-driven solutions.
Development challenges
Axum said the move has brought together 10 partners and more than 70 staff.
“This is a significant leap forward for us and aligns with our ambitions to scale our initiative-building capabilities while retaining our deeply local and systemic DNA that is built on a deep understanding of the development challenges within the communities we live in and serve,” said Steve Kisakye, Global Managing Director at Dalberg Implement.
The firm is part of the Dalberg Group, which comprises six businesses – Dalberg Advisors, Dalberg Data Insights, Dalberg Design, Dalberg Implement, Dalberg Media, and Dalberg Research – and a non-profit called Dalberg Catalyst.
Significant milestone
Last year, seven partners who had been serving the Dalberg Group in Africa set up Axum to serve Africa and the Middle East.
“This deal represents a significant milestone in building Axum to be the premier partner for governments, industry, civil society, funders, and investors seeking to drive systemic change,” said Edwin Macharia, Global Managing Partner at Axum.
“With our combined experience and expertise in Africa, the Middle East, and beyond, we offer a unique platform for getting things done,” he added.
As per the new rules, the ministry will cap the maximum score that bidders would get even if they quote abnormally low prices and there will be a limit on how many contracts any consultancy firm, based on assessment of its capacity, can take at one point of time.
Recently, two probe reports on Silkyara tunnel collapse in Uttarkashi by the central and Uttarakhand govt pointed to preparation of “deficient” detailed project report (DPR), a trend that has become a cause of concern for govt as well.
TOI has learnt that road transport ministry has circulated the amended norms to all highway owning agencies.
Preparation of poor DPRs results in deficient project planning, delays implementation and leads to frequent change of scope, which ends up adding to costs for govt.
As per the new norms, the revised weightage will be 80% for technical and 20% for financials, which is known as quality-cum-cost based selection (QCBS). The agencies will open financial bids only when a company gets an 80% score on technical parameters. Then the average bid prices quoted by all the bidders will be worked out and any bidder quoting 25% less than the average price will get the maximum score. This will bring bidders to a level playing field.
Sources said these provisions have been incorporated considering that finance ministry guidelines specify that no bidder can be eliminated. “Till now companies that score less in technical qualification, which takes into account the qualified manpower on their roll and their past records, end up bagging projects after quoting very low prices. This resulted in less capable players getting more projects. Now it will change,” said an official.
Similarly, there will be a cap on the number of projects a private player can get based on its capacity, including turnover and permanent key personnel. Companies will be barred from bidding for future projects, if they give wrong information. In certain cases, the companies would have to pay back the salaries or fees they get for their key expert professionals, if the details are found to be wrong.
According to the new norms, there will be ratings of consultants as well.