For 12,000 workers in the UK, KPMG has frozen pay; they will not receive raises unless they are promoted. This follows the deals advisory arm’s layoffs and salary freezes.

Roughly 12,000 UK employees’ salaries have apparently been suspended by KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms. The Financial Times reported that KPMG executives told staff members they wouldn’t be getting paid more this year unless they were promoted.

Notably, the report was released just a few weeks after KPMG, in response to a protracted slowdown in dealmaking, announced significant layoffs and paid pay freezes in its transactions advising division.

According to the Financial Times analysis, workers at the Big Four accounting firms—Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC—have received pay increases each year.

Nonetheless, real-term pay reductions will inevitably result from the 4.6% inflation in the UK in October.

According to the FT story, bonuses will also be reduced, with employees in KPMG’s 2,900-person tax and legal division earning 55% of the total amount that might have been given.

According to FT, the company’s graduate and apprenticeship employees won’t be impacted by the salary restriction.

The 12,000 figure includes employees who are eligible for salary increases because, as is typical throughout the Big Four, they will automatically advance into a higher band based on seniority without receiving an official promotion.

This move is the most recent instance of accounting and consulting businesses making cuts in the face of difficult market conditions.

But since the pay freeze has now been implemented across the board at KPMG, including its deal advising team, it appears that divisions like tax that are usually more resilient to economic downturns have also been impacted by the challenging climate.

Notably, in recent months, all four of the Big Four companies have announced layoffs. PwC informed its 25,000 employees in the UK that due to the “tough” market conditions, they could anticipate lower salary increases and bonuses as well as possible freezes this year.

(Adapted from Telegraph.co.uk)