In May 2025, PricewaterhouseCoopers laid off 1,500 American workers, about 3% of its U.S. workforce. This followed another reduction of 1,800 U.S.-based employees just months earlier in late 2024.
Publicly, PwC blamed “historically low attrition rates” and “overcapacity.” However, the real narrative reveals a betrayal: While American workers faced layoffs, PwC intensified its investment in India.
“This was a difficult decision and we made it with care … and a deep awareness of its impact on our people,” PwC claimed in a statement about the layoffs.
However, this sentiment contrasts sharply with the company’s previous commitment in 2021 to create over 100,000 net new jobs over five years in “critical areas such as cyber-security, cloud, climate, transformation and supply chain.”
In just three years, PwC reached three-quarters of this target, adding 6,161 jobs in FY24 and a total of 68,681 jobs over the previous two years, bringing its global workforce to more than 370,000. However, this growth appears to exclude American professionals, suggesting that the anticipated “future workforce” is increasingly foreign and displacing U.S. workers. The promise of 100,000 new jobs stands in jarring contrast with their recent U.S. layoffs.
Moreover, PwC has positioned itself within India’s government-supported academic and labor framework, shifting critical operations away from the United States, which contributes significantly to its revenue.
Silent cuts, strategic realignment
Laid-off employees reported sudden notifications via vague “Time Sensitive” Microsoft Teams meetings, where they were informed of their termination, often with little to no warning. Some were on track for promotions and raises, only to be let go, while others were dismissed just months after being hired. The firm did not cite any financial crisis, global downturn or similar layoffs occurring elsewhere.
In contrast, PwC is expanding its operations in Indian cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai, transferring entire service lines, including technology, audit, tax and consulting, to Indian teams. These changes focus not on growth, but on cost-cutting, offshoring and circumventing U.S. labor standards.
As Global Advisory Head David Maras noted, “India has transformed into a strategic imperative for PwC.”
PwC’s new “One Consulting” model, anchored in AI, managed services and transformation programs, is now centered in India rather than the United States.
Academic deals and labor pipelines
Underlying PwC’s strategy is a collaboration with India’s Ministry of Education and corporate policymakers. Through “industry-academia” initiatives, companies directly partner with universities to create low-cost labor pools for global deployment.
PwC has formalized this approach through Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) abroad, such as its agreement with a corporate group in Dubai, which establishes direct pipelines of pre-trained labor for the firm. These backroom “industry-academia” partnerships appear to benefit India and multinational corporations while undermining U.S. graduates and professionals.
To underscore its deepening commitment to India, PwC recently released a report titled “Making the case for global workforce migration: A strategic blueprint to harness India’s demographic dividend,” outlining its vision to position India as a global labor hub. This blueprint aligns with PwC’s broader shift in operations and talent strategy away from the United States.
The financial truth: Made in America, spent in India
In fiscal year 2024, PwC achieved a record global revenue of $55.4 billion, with contributions from various regions: America generated $24.3 billion, a 3.4% growth; Europe, the Middle East and Africa contributed $21.7 billion, an 11.2% increase; while the Asia-Pacific region, including India and 31 other countries, brought in only $9.3 billion, marking a 7.1% decline.
Despite the United States remaining PwC’s largest revenue source, it is simultaneously where the firm is cutting jobs. Conversely, during a period of declining revenues, PwC continues hiring and investing in India while establishing new delivery models. Factors such as cheaper labor, lenient regulations, or undisclosed agreements with the Indian government may contribute to this shift.
Regardless of the reasons, one thing is clear: PwC has utilized the revenue generated in the United States to lay off American workers and expand foreign operations that serve the same American clients at lower costs. This is not theoretical capital; it’s genuine revenue earned on American soil, then redirected to fund foreign operations, infrastructure and jobs.
This is not expansion; it’s extraction.
PwC’s U.S. layoffs, like many others, were never about “attrition.” They were about labor arbitrage. The United States is being hollowed out to finance the rise of a foreign competitor.
Every U.S. layoff at PwC has a matching investment in India. Whether it’s tech hubs, service lines or academic partnerships, the trend is unmistakable: Export the work, import the talent, abandon the Americans.
PwC is not the only firm following this path, but as one of the most influential global consultancies, it sets a precedent for a generation of multinationals that are restructuring labor markets without democratic oversight.
Until Americans confront this extraction model and hold companies like PwC accountable, this wealth and labor drain will not only accelerate, it will become permanent. And American workers will keep paying the price for corporate loyalty that no longer exists.
