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A corporate gossip Instagram page has leaked KPMG Australia’s plans to offshore three quarters of its 260-strong executive assistant workforce to the Philippines.
KPMG Australia is planning to offshore three quarters of its 260 executive assistant roles to the Philippines in a bid to position themselves for “growth and competitiveness” amid a challenging market for Big Four consultancies.
On Tuesday night (3 February), KPMG’s plan to make 200 Australian roles redundant was leaked to corporate gossip Instagram page The Aussie Corporate. The page published a screenshot of a KPMG slide deck detailing the firm’s apparent plans for a “reduction in onshore leadership support”, with 65 roles to remain onshore.
Addressing the rumours, a KPMG spokesperson said the firm was “moving away from the practice of doing everything in-house” and had proposed a different resourcing model to provide support services. They added that consultation regarding the changes was ongoing.
KPMG planned to take a “phased approach” to the executive assistant redundancies, with 100 roles to be impacted in April and a further 100 in May or June. Only the firm’s state chairs would fully retain their domestic executive assistants under the proposal.
Shrinking government demand for consulting services following the PwC tax leaks scandal has squeezed the margins of large consulting firms. In FY2024–25, Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC saw revenue growth decline in their Australian firms.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said in November last year that the government was planning to pull back the use of consultants in Defence.
By combining the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, the Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group and the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group into the Defence Delivery Agency, the federal government’s defence consultant cuts focused on increasing the Australian Public Service roles, rather than relying on consultants.
“We've added 500 highly skilled public servants in these three groups and got rid of a serious number of contractors and consultants,” Minister Conroy said.
This comes after KPMG cut defence contracts from $450 million in 2022 to $45 million between 2024 and 2025. The firm has previously been accused of incorrectly billing, inflating invoices and overcharging the Department of Defence, and were ordered to pay back credits to the department.
Job search website Indeed indicated that the average executive assistant salary at KPMG Australia was approximately $86,000 per year. As such, KPMG could save $17 million in annual wage costs through the 200 redundancies.
KPMG cut 200 senior staff in mid-2024 in a “major overhaul” that saved the firm $80 million. The firm also cut 200 roles in February 2023, mostly in its consulting arm.
Regarding the planned executive assistant redundancies, a KPMG spokesperson said the move was part of the firm’s plan to build its competitiveness and resilience.
“We are continually reviewing the way we work to build a scalable, modern, resilient business that positions us for growth and competitiveness,” the spokesperson said.
“Consultation with our people remains ongoing. We are committed to approaching the consultation period with empathy, respect and transparency for our people.”
This was originally published on Defence Connect's sister brand, Accounting Times.
