KPMG to cut up to 200 jobs in UK as Nike also makes redundancies

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KPMG said it will cut as many as 200 jobs from its British workforce as it became the latest professional services firm to see a slump in demand following the coronavirus pandemic.

KPMG said it will cut fewer than 100 roles from its consulting business and a similar number from back office support staff in departments like HR, according to a statement Wednesday. It's the second major consulting firm to cull jobs this month after Accenture said it would cut around 8 per cent of staff in Britain.

KPMGKPMG, said that while areas such as cybersecurity were in high demand, it was a different story in other consulting roles. said that while areas such as cybersecurity were in high demand, it was a different story in other consulting roles. The firm said it was also considering temporary changes to pension contributions that would affect about 20 per cent of its staff.

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“We are operating in highly volatile times and areproposing a series of actions to safeguard our business in the medium and long term,” the firm said.

Seperately, Nike said pandemic-related job cuts will cost it between $200 million and $250 million as it refocuses on selling directly to consumers.

The company, which had already announced in June a new phase in its e-commerce push called the Consumer Direct Acceleration, said in a statement Wednesday that the effort was “expected to lead to a net loss of jobs across the company,” resulting in the one-time charge. It didn’t say how many positions would be eliminated, and a representative declined to comment further.

Nike’s strategy shift comes as the pandemic expedites a rethink of physical storefronts that had already been bubbling for years. Brick and mortar stores, in particular mall-based ones, have been some of the hardest hit by coronavirus as scores of consumers turn to online shopping. E-commerce sales were a bright spot for Nike last quarter, growing 75 per cent at a time when overall revenue plunged.

Nike also announced Wednesday a series of senior leadership changes supporting the direct-to-consumer shift, including new leaders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and in its Asia Pacific and Latin America division. Additionally, Craig Williams, president of the Jordan brand, and G. Scott Uzzell, chief executive officer of Converse will join

Nike’s executive leadership team. The company said the new structure and leadership changes will give it a “nimbler, flatter organisation,” allowing it to make decisions faster.

- Bloomberg