Ernst & Young to cut 200 UK jobs
Ernst & Young is to axe 200 jobs in the UK as the global slowdown begins to bite in the accountancy profession.
Jobs will go in tax, corporate recovery, corporate finance and audit and are likely in the firm’s central region, south region and London.
Chairman of E&Y, Nick Land, blamed the rapid decline in world economic activity for the redundancies.
‘We have taken immediate action to bring our headcount in line with realistic growth expectations for this year,’ Land said in a statement.
‘Sadly this has forced us to reduce our headcount by about 200 people across the firm.’
E&Y currently employs more than 7,500 people throughout the UK and the firm has just taken on 400 graduates. Ten months ago the firm recorded fee income growth of 16% and a rise in profit per partner of 18% to Pounds 424,000.
Land said that he hoped the move would prepare the firm for the ‘likely business environment over the next nine months or so’.
According to the firm the staff concerned are currently being told about the moves. It is thought the firm did not offer voluntary redundancy to employees before making the cuts.
E&Y, which in January became the first organisation in the UK to convert its business to full limited liability status, has moved early with today’s decision. Although other Big Five firms have cut their graduate intakes, none said they had plans for large-scale cuts to their workforces.
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