The Big Four: KMPG, EY, PWC & Deloitte On A Hiring Spree; Effects Of The Pandemic?

The after-effects of the pandemic have left a huge gap for workers in consulting services posts all across the country. This has fueled a hiring spree by the Big Four firms of professional consulting services, Deloitte, PWC, EY, and KPMG.

According to data shared exclusively with The Economic Times by Xpheno- a recruitment and staffing firm, the number of employees in the big four companies currently comprises over 2,10,000 in technical and non-technical roles, and this headcount is set to increase twofold in the next couple of years. They are also estimated to generate a combined revenue of more than INR 21,500 Crore by the end of June.

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During the financial year 2021-2022, these four giants and their subordinates had openings for almost 55,000 jobs, of which 52,000 of those were created specifically for the technology sector as companies tried to keep up with the upward curve of digitization.

The net increase in headcount for the companies in this cohort stood at 88,000 in FY22. This includes the headcount refill done in order to address the attrition rate of 23% in top consulting companies. It is the highest ever year-on-year headcount growth of 36% in these companies.

Due to the booming demands for business specialists and the ongoing attrition trend within the country, the companies are expected to take in around 80,000 more people in the next fiscal year.

Also read: With 93.5% Placement Rate, Software Engineers Get 120% Hike In FY 2021-22

SV Nathan, Chief Talent Officer of Deloitte India said, “Deloitte, as well as others in this sector, have gone into technology consulting in a big way which requires a lot of people and that is what is triggering the huge demand for manpower,”. He implied that the economic situation left behind in the wake of the pandemic is what is paving the way for such trends in hiring.

Last year, PwC India created over 3,000 jobs and plans to expand it by adding 10,000 additional jobs within a five-year period. Padmaja Alaganandan, Chief People Officer, PwC India remarked, “Our talent strategy is focused on what we see as the requirements of the market and our clients, with a balance on internally building and lateral hiring for these capabilities,”. She implied that this is part of a new company strategy.

The most in-demand tech roles in the Consulting cohort include cyber security, virtualization, machine learning, data analytics, cloud tech, etc. Non-tech roles that hold the same demands are business analysts, forensics, accounting & audit specialists, etc.

At the moment, there are two driving factors behind the growth of these companies. The first is the immense developments witnessed by the pandemic during the pandemic era. The second one is an expansion in their global business areas, thus adding more shared services units in India.

Punit Renjen, Global CEO, Deloitte remarked that 20% of the company’s global workforce is now based out of India, with the headcounts crossing 90,000 across sectors.

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Shamik Banerjee

Associate, Content

I'm an avid reader and a football lover. When I'm not at work, you will probably find me invested in some football match. At Unstop, I dig out obscure facts and make them relevant through compelling stories.