KPMG lays off 4% of its advisory team over slowing demand

KPMG, saintly pillar of the Big Four, has announced it's shedding 4% of its advisory team — specifically the consultants who worry about regulatory risk, customer operations, and financial services. Because when demand slows, the obvious answer is to fire the people who tell you what's coming. Meanwhile, they're hiring in AI and cybersecurity, because nothing says 'we've learned our lesson' like replacing the experts you just sacked with the very technology that's creating the regulatory chaos. The irony is so thick you could spread it on a biscuit.

The timing is, of course, exquisite. Just as regulators are sharpening their pencils for AI oversight, KPMG trims its regulatory risk advisory. Just as customers start demanding accountability for algorithmic decisions, they cull customer operations. And financial services? Well, who needs consultants to explain complex financial instruments when an AI can hallucinate a spreadsheet? The firm is essentially doubling down on the bet that the problems created by automation can be solved by more automation. It's the consulting equivalent of throwing your umbrella away in a rainstorm because you're already wet.

But let's focus on that 4%. It's just enough to make the news but small enough to be shrugged off as 'rightsizing.' They'll get to train their replacements. The laid-off 4%? They'll be competing for jobs in a market where even KPMG's own advisory couldn't spot the slowdown coming. The demand will return, they assure us, because it always does. But by then, the bots will have learned enough to take the next 4%. Cheerio.