This followed an announcement of several hundred audit associate redundancies last week, while some soon to be and newly qualified auditors on visas are ‘doubting their futures with the firm’, warned leading recruiter.

The latest job cuts will come into effect in August, with the Big Four firm saying it was forced to make compulsory redundancies as there were not enough staff coming forward to take up the voluntary severance programme.

PwC’s audit business is the largest in the UK in terms of fee income with revenue of £1.49bn for audit in FY24, up from £1.35bn in FY23. This was around 40% higher than its nearest Big Four competitor.

The job cuts represent 0.75% of the total workforce of over 24,000 staff, and are a reflection of the changing nature of audit as technology, automation and AI erode entry-level jobs. It is also inevitable that ever rising audit fees are now being pushed back on by large audit clients, while conflict issues mean more listed audit work outside the FTSE 100 is being spread around mid-tier firms outside the Big Four.

A PwC spokesperson said: ‘We always keep the shape of our business under review to respond to changing client demands, attrition rates and new opportunities.

‘From time to time, we may need to reduce roles as a consequence – such decisions are never taken lightly. We continue to invest heavily in our people, including pay, promotions, bonuses and training.’

Despite cutting junior auditors, PwC is the second largest accountancy training firm in the UK. It had over 3,300 graduates, apprentices and school leavers on trainee schemes in 2024, although this figure was down 15% on the previous year according to the Accountancy Daily Top 75 Firms Survey, reflecting market constraints.

There is also a major skills shortage across the accounting profession so demand for these juniors should be high, as long as AI driven audit does not erode entry level roles too quickly.

PwC is the second largest accounting firm in the UK with annual revenue of £4.35bn in FY24, but it reported 8.5% drop in pre-tax profits to £1.29bn for the same period.

George Tatnell, associate director audit at ProRecruitment posted on LinkedIn: ‘I have spoken with a number of soon to be/ newly qualified auditors on visas who are also doubting their futures with the firm.

‘This comes at a time of a sharp decline in graduate vacancies across the Big Four, driven by a combination of economic conditions and increased reliance on AI to cut costs.

‘From direct conversations with partners at large firms, it’s clear that while AI is helping with much of the grunt work - rising regulatory pressure and job complexity mean the human element in audit isn't going away. If anything, professionals now need to be even more highly trained — not just in audit, but in tech and AI too.’

PwC plans to give an average 2.5% pay rise across the board this month, down from 3% last year.