Accounting firm president says the role of PwC graduates is under threat from AI

Growth in artificial intelligence (AI) could ultimately lead to fewer new graduates being hired, the head of accountancy giant PwC told the BBC.

However, global chairman Mohamed Khande said AI was not behind the company’s recent job cuts, adding that the company actually needs to hire hundreds of new AI engineers, but is struggling to do so.

But some observers say the technology itself threatens thousands of lower-level jobs across the professional services industry.

Speaking on the sidelines of a business summit in Singapore, Kande said major changes in the global economy, including US President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs, had been positive for the firm’s consulting business.

He also noted that the company was suspended in China last year for its work with failed real estate giant Evergrande, and promised that the same mistake would “never happen again.”

Headquartered in London, PwC is one of the Big Four accounting firms. We provide a wide range of services including financial auditing, consulting and tax advice to corporate clients around the world.

Kande said advising on how to incorporate AI into operations will be central to the company’s future business strategy, even as rapidly advancing technology impacts its hiring plans.

Companies that previously hired PwC consultants to comb through data and documents can now use AI models instead, turning weeks of costly work into minutes.

The company hires thousands of new graduates for entry-level positions each year, including 1,300 in the UK and 3,200 in the US last year, but recently scrapped long-term plans to continue growing its headcount.

PwC said in 2021 that it wanted to hire 100,000 people over five years, but Khande said this was no longer possible.

“The world looked very different when we planned to hire that many people,” he said.

“Now we have artificial intelligence. We want to hire, but I don’t know if it’s going to be the same level of people that we hire. It’s going to be a different set of people.”

Last year, PwC cut more than 5,600 roles across its businesses around the world.

The head of the company’s UK operations has previously spoken about reducing graduate recruitment and admitted that AI is “definitely reshaping roles”.

But Khande argued that at a global level, the AI ​​boom is an “exciting time” to create new jobs.

“We are currently looking for hundreds of engineers to help us advance our AI agenda, but we are having trouble finding them,” he said.

While companies around the world may be facing challenges adapting to AI, PwC appears to be benefiting from widespread uncertainty in the global economy, primarily driven by President Trump’s widespread tariffs.

“We have received a lot of inquiries from many companies around the world asking how they can navigate the current environment,” Kande said.

“That’s been good for us. We need to maintain relationships with our clients and we need to be involved in these discussions, and we are.”

But last year, the firm suffered a major reputational blow when Chinese authorities suspended PwC for six months for its work with failed real estate giant Evergrande.

The company went bankrupt with debts of more than $300bn (£230bn) and is at the center of a devastating housing crisis that continues to damage lives and livelihoods in China.

The country’s Securities Regulatory Commission found that PwC, as auditor, “concealed and even condoned” financial irregularities at Evergrande.

Although Khande’s term as global chairman began after the Evergrande bankruptcy, PwC said it no longer faces any regulations in China.

“I’ll tell you, we’ve made a lot of employee changes, we’ve put in place a new quality control system, we’ve put in place a new governance system,” he said.

“My focus is to make sure this never happens again.”