After it was announced that Big Four firm EY was making cuts at the senior level, staff in its legal department were warned about redundancies.
Staff in the firm’s legal arm, EY Law, were informed on Wednesday of the planned restructuring of the department.
With that announcement, first reported in the Financial Times, came confirmation the firm was launching a redundancy consultation.
Around 30 roles are expected to be affected by the job cuts. Globally, EY Law has more than 3,000 legal professionals across 80 jurisdictions.
Some roles would be relocated to Manchester and Belfast, where employment coats are lower.
This isn’t the first time EY has taken the shears to its legal arm. In December 2023, it was reported that the firm was shutting EY Riverview Law, the Manchester-based legal services business it acquired in 2018.
Commenting on the news, a statement by EY said: [The firm] “has put forward proposals to restructure the UK Law business, by focussing on strategic areas with greater alignment to the broader EY business and providing integrated services to our clients.”
“These proposals would continue to strengthen EY’s existing legal capabilities in corporate law, company secretarial, tax litigation and immigration but would, regrettably, result in a reduction of roles across other areas of the UK Law business,” they added.
The firm confirmed a consultation process is now underway.
The news this afternoon follows the revealation by The Sunday Times that dozens of senior partners at the firm were at risk of being laid off.
The most significant redundancy plan in decades will see EY axe 30 partners, mainly in its consulting division.
This all stems from the profitability problem EY along with the rest of the Big Four are currently in.
City AM has published an explainer on what is happening at the Big Four firms