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I want a breakdown of reply alls by Service Line
Any single ladies at the CSII office?
MBB Asia vs Big 4 NA? (SEA/India vs US)
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Each area is different. This is the annual review cycle where people inevitably end up not getting a promotion they felt they were entitled to, or terminated due to having lower performance than their peers (for one reason or another). They end up on FB, correlating their poor luck with the demise of the firm.
Last year people were saying they were going to tell the WSJ about how unfair things are, and that they predicted the firm would "go down in flames".
Happens every 11 months.
P1 is probably the same leadership who made the changes.
No, this year is not the same. A cultural shift was initiated this year by the partners.
This past year: Health benefit plans reduced, promotion incentives reduced, bonus payout distribution for lower levels reduced (even though on paper we fully funded our bonus pool), new criteria for getting higher rating, new pay model that equalizes arbitrarily with no inflation adjustments for multiple years, decrease in transparency, increase of leadership complacence/latency.
Basically, we're doing what we preach to our clients not to do. We are putting profits first people second. We are taking the "norm" from other firms and making it our model to be "more competitive." We are replacing our best practices that set us apart with the median/average (most commonly used) practices instead. We are aiming for average.
Many PwC partners above pitching on this post and trying to justify the stupidity and unfairness that runs in their accounting firm...all acquisitions including PRTM, Diamond and Booz have been a big failure...Morale is at all time low and one cannot trust any second person in the firm....lack of transparency around business..HR leadership the worst I have experienced...actions and words totally contradict each other..can write a book describing all the BS running in the firm..
Couldn't agree more with P4. First time bonuses have been "fully funded" in my three years with the firm. Fully funded is also much less than what is advertised to staff as bonus potential. Cohort model is flattening base pay at all levels and especially mbas. It's been disappointing to watch. We are moving towards recruiting and maintaining average talent.
It's a competitive industry. I recall seeing similar posts this time last year from Deloitters. We're about a year behind them in terms of "house cleaning" activities. EY has been on a hiring spree (hiring many of our people) and I predict that they will find themselves in a similar position to where they'd over hired against their demand and will be making similar cuts during their next annual review cycle. For many of the people I knew who've been laid off, this just wasn't the right fit for them... talented and intelligent people in their own right, but they were the victims of being hired when demand was at its peak, right before a slowdown, and they were unable to fully integrate into the Firms culture
I feel that this year and last year the situation has been way worse than usual (more layoffs, fewer promotions and lower raises/ bonuses) and very unpredictable as some of the well performing staff got laid off
As a former pdubs employee (and still in touch with many friends there)... the company doesn't act in a way that shows value for their people... or their careers. And it's not just because it's CRT outcome time. There is limited transparency on a lot of fronts and career progression seems more weighted towards game play than actual competency or demonstrated ability. It leads to frustration, loss of good talent... and the worse part is when you try to have candid convos with partners or other leaders (obviously those you trust enough for that).... falls on deaf ears so long as their book of business and profile look good. There is a mix of folks in there who try and push for better... but they are the few and far between.
Mostly agree with P1. We also got new firm leadership recently and he/they undertook a cost cutting program that involved some cuts to back office staff and some reorg. It was poorly communicated and not well executed. Combine the two and people are unhappy. We actually had a pretty good year.
I agree with P4 as well. There's more than a hint of penny pinching happening too, which will turn off the top performers, causing an exodus
I think everyone has fair points and it's at the practice level that partners will choose how much to be transparent, fair, and insulate their staff from corporate bullshit. I think that is what makes the difference between something like what P1 is saying and what P4 is saying. A lot of practices partners are pinching pennies, treating even high performers as expense line items, and failing to communicate to staff. It's that day to day shittiness that is the most tiring and demotivating; it is also the most fixable by a practice's partners. Sadly too many of them choose not to care. My practice is among them and morale through all levels is low.
Manager. Semi leadership. Lols.
Avoid avoid avoid PwC your time is precious-- life is too short many other better more fulfilling opportunities in the marketplace today
In a few months D and EY will be complaining just as much when their promotions and bonuses are announced. PwC is not going down in flames, nor are we in a race to the bottom. Some practices are doing better than others, which is to be expected. Some practices did great and their people got fabulous variable compensation and very good raises. I don't think it's fair to make blanket statements and trash the firm when in reality there are lots of different situations going on, just like at any other Big 4.
Zero transparency and projects are nothing like what you expected when you signed your employment offer.
PwC12 lol what are you smoking bro
Manager here, so semi leadership but not enough where I have to say what they want. I'd agree with P1 that this is fairly standard and there is just a very vocal contingent on FB complaining. Every firm does some cost cutting at times; this isn't some big change. I didn't get a great review this year but from all my years in consulting (here and Deloitte) I've learned that some years your review/comp is better than expected and some years it's worse - and that's the case at any firm. I'm content to stay at PwC and play the long game, as I'm happy for the most part and am not going to get worked up about a few thousand dollars when everything else is good.
Also no one should be this unhappy or stressed about employment--- beyond not worth it
But OP is BCG P12, let's think before we post such "conspiracy theories"
Wondering the same as I was considering making a move to their cyber practice?
One more factor to note, we had a new US Chairman take over. With a new regime, inevitably, comes change