Global management consulting giant McKinsey has offered nine months' worth of pay to hundreds of its senior staff to leave the firm and look for jobs elsewhere. As per a report by The Times, McKinsey's latest attempt to reduce staff comes amid a sector-wide downturn.
The report claims that the managers at the UK offices of the firm are being given nine months to look for another job. Under this initiative, personnel can use this time “on search”, which is an internal phrase referring to the staff who are spending their time looking for a job rather than working on client projects.
Besides paying its employees in full amount for the next nine months, McKinsey is also giving its managers access to its resources and career coaching services.
However, the employees will have to leave the firm at the end of the said period, even if their job hunt ends up being unsuccessful.
A similar kind of offer has also been extended to all the managers, presently working at the US offices of the firm, but their pay duration offered could be different, the report added.
Without confirming the details mentioned in the report, a McKinsey spokesperson told the outlet that the firm's mission remains to help their staff “grow into leaders, whether they stay at McKinsey or continue their careers elsewhere.”
The report quoted the spokesperson as saying, “These actions are part of our ongoing effort to ensure our performance management and development approach is as effective as possible, and to do so in a caring and supportive way.”
It must be noted that back in February last year, McKinsey & Co. announced that it was eliminating about 2,000 jobs in one of the consulting giant's biggest rounds of cuts ever. It was also reported that the move is expected to target the support staff in roles that don't have direct contact with clients.
In addition, a Bloomberg report also stated that last year in March, McKinsey tried to trim its headcount amid a slowdown in the consulting industry.
The consulting firm said it would be cutting about 1,400 jobs or about 3 per cent of its headcount.
