New Delhi: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) is set to cut a significant number of jobs in the Middle East, letting go of around 1,500 employees and 60 partners. The move comes after a fallout with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), highlighting tensions in one of the region’s key business partnerships, according to the Financial Times.
Impact of the PIF Fallout on PwC
The dispute with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has hit PwC’s Middle East operations hard. Bloomberg reports that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) imposed a year-long ban on PwC starting February, preventing the firm from taking on any consulting or advisory contracts in the kingdom. This comes at a time when the consulting market in the region was already facing significant challenges.
PwC Job Cuts and Regional Slowdown
Job reductions at PwC began in February 2025, as demand for advisory services in the Middle East continued to slow, sources told the Financial Times. The restructuring impacted both partners and regular employees across the firm’s offices in the region.
Partner Pay and Cost-Cutting Pressures
Partners at PwC’s Middle East unit earned an average of £865,000 ($1.18 million) in the year ending June 30, slightly higher than £862,000 the previous year, Bloomberg reported citing the firm’s annual report. A slowdown in deals over recent years has pushed consulting firms to reduce costs. Back in 2022, average partner pay at PwC had exceeded £1 million, as the M&A boom fueled by low interest rates began to taper off.
PwC Restructuring and Revenue Update
As part of a broader restructuring, PwC laid off some partners in the UK and Middle East during the financial year. Despite these job cuts, the firm’s total revenue edged up slightly to £6.35 billion in 2025, compared with £6.33 billion the previous year. Revenue in the UK and Middle East remained steady at £4.2 billion and £1.98 billion, respectively.
SoftBank Vision Fund Considers Staff Cuts
SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund is reportedly weighing a reduction of up to 20 per cent of its workforce, Bloomberg reported. With around 282 employees at the end of March, this could mean more than 50 roles being cut, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The potential layoffs come as the Vision Fund’s influence has declined, while founder Masayoshi Son focuses on large artificial intelligence investments, including a 30 billion dollars plan for OpenAI and a $6.5 billion deal to acquire chip designer Ampere Computing, which is under regulatory review. So far, SoftBank has invested roughly $10 billion in OpenAI.