KPMG tilts management consulting division more towards tech

Less than one year on from its last major restructuring, professional services firm KPMG is getting set for another overhaul – this time with around 200 consulting jobs on the chopping block.

The firm is looking to shave $80 million in costs by rejigging its consulting division with a greater focus on emerging technologies, a move which mirrors recent restructures by Deloitte and PwC both globally and locally.

KPMG itself underwent a restructure in Australia only one year ago, which in fact saw its $745 million consulting division expanded to include risk advisory, with former union leader Paul Howes appointed to oversee the new unit.

Now, following on from multiple cuts made last year, the firm is set to shed a further 200-odd senior consulting roles, with 250 staff expected to be impacted altogether due to redeployment to areas of higher demand. Speaking with the AFR, Howes effectively declared the era of the management consulting generalist over, with tech nous now essential.

“Our clients are expecting us to help them leverage technology to transform their businesses at a much faster pace,” Howes stated. “The traditional way of working and some of the legacy advice services our firm offered the market are no longer in the same demand. We must now make a rapid, foundational shift to our business to adapt to this generational change.”

The firm said it would reinvest the savings on labour into emerging technologies and digital solutions – including artificial intelligence – along with new delivery methods, expertise and its partnership alliances, with expectations that the tech-related contribution to its consulting revenues would rise from 40 percent to 60 percent in the coming years.

Howes said that while regrettable, the restructuring was being driven by market dynamics; “This is not about minor adjustments, but about flipping our business to have a strong focus on transformation, utilising emerging technologies. By evolving our business in this way, we are positioning KPMG Consulting, our clients and our people to thrive in the future.”

KPMG’s tech tilt and job cuts comes on the heels of the firm launching its new internal generativeAI tool KymTax.