Grant Thornton lays off 200 more employees

Grant Thornton is laying off an additional 200 employees after cutting 300 earlier this year, despite reaching record levels of revenue.

In May, the Chicago-based Top 10 Firm laid off about 3% of its staff, mostly in the advisory and tax business lines (see story). The latest round of layoffs appears to be mainly in the advisory services practice.

“Grant Thornton is operating with strong momentum, having just concluded a record-setting fiscal year,” the firm said in a statement emailed to Accounting Today. “The staffing changes reflect pockets of underutilization in limited business segments, and specialty areas that the firm is exiting due to market trends. We continue to invest in higher-growth areas of the business to even better serve our clients. We value the contributions of all team members and are providing transition support to impacted professionals.”

The firm is exiting a handful of specialty business segments in its advisory service line, including targeted risk and restructuring offerings, according to a spokesperson.

Last month, Grant Thornton reported that it reached a record annual revenue of $2.4 billion for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2023, grew 11.6% on a pro-forma basis after adjusting for the divestiture of its public sector advisory practice, which it sold off last year.

Other big firms, including Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte, BDO USA and PwC U.K., have been cutting jobs this past year, especially in consulting and advisory services as deal-making slows in M&A due in part to high interest rates over the past two years, making it more difficult to get financing from big banks. 

GT had overcapacity in some parts of the firm that it doesn’t anticipate rebounding in the near future. The job cuts were not in the accounting or auditing areas, where the firm is still recruiting, especially young people.