PwC has made job cuts in its Middle East operations, eliminating the positions of approximately 60 partners and 1,500 staff, reported the Financial Times.
The downsizing began in February 2025, triggered by a year-long ban by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) on new advisory contracts for the firm, which has had a considerable impact on PwC’s business prospects in the region.
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The ban has led to a reassessment of PwC’s strategy and operations, as its leadership looked to address the anticipated “large” revenue shortfall for the current and upcoming fiscal years.
This has resulted in a regional leadership shake-up, with PwC UK’s managing partner Laura Hinton set to co-lead the Middle East business beginning October 2025, alongside the current senior partner, Hani Ashkar.
Hinton is expected to take over as the sole senior partner after a year, the news publication noted citing staff-wide mail sent by PwC UK boss Marco Amitrano.
The job cuts have predominantly affected consulting roles, particularly those associated with “transformational” projects.
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By GlobalDataThe firm had been a key consultant for major PIF projects, including the ambitious Neom development.
This decision comes after PwC faced “friction and angst” over its prioritisation of consulting contracts over audit work and the “attempt to hire Neom’s chief internal audit officer”, which ultimately led to the PIF ban.
Despite the job reductions, PwC’s headcount in the Middle East has remained “roughly level” due to the new hires in areas with strong client demand.
As the most recent financial year concluded, PwC’s operations in the Middle East consisted of approximately 500 partners and 11,000 staff members, with the majority based in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The firm promoted 62 new partners in June and continues to recruit lower-level staff.
Sources familiar with PwC’s strategy indicate that the firm still has ambitions to grow in the Middle East.
At the time of results announcement recently, PwC UK acknowledged job cuts, citing a general slowdown.
PwC has declined to comment on the situation.
