Sometimes we wonder whether corporate firms have an panic-phone with a direct line to BRW.
Take the interview with PwC Chief Executive Mark Johnson in the current edition as an example. Johnson, whose worldliness and refinement stems from having:
spent his entire working life at PwC…
expresses in the interview his dismay at the harsh treatment PwC received in the media last year:
On a crisp autumn morning in 2009, PwC‘s newly appointed chief executive partner Mark Johnson sat in breezy forecourt in Sydney’s Darling Harbour, fuming over what he saw as the careless disregard of the business press in reporting gloom day after day; over perceptions about job losses and corporate collapses turned into reality; over the impact of armchair theories on capital works and investment and the whole economy… [it was unclear if he] was being philosophical, or just cross about the … splashing of PwC‘s cost-cutting measures – including 200 redundancies, voluntary unpaid leave and cash payments for university graduates to defer start dates [across media].
That anger appears to have passed now, however, if the sickly corporate grin he is sporting in the photo accompanying the interview is any indication.
So let’s see what we can do to bring it back.
We received the following comments from an anonymous PwC spy on the weekend:
Interesting news from the Australian IT department of PwC. Contacts have revealed that with morale low across the IT teams, people extremely unhappy with the direction and culture being promoted by the CIO, Hilda Clune, seems that disillusion and disappointment has set in, with serious talks about outsourcing the Service Desk team, and looking at options to reduce headcount (too many people in IT, despite some workers doing 10-12 hour days). And it seems that the heavy promotion of work/life balance at PwC applies to all, except those in IT below Director grade, seems they still need the “workers” to keep the wheels turning. With the “What would you like to Change?” campaign dying a slow and quiet death, and despite the majority of people accepting a pay cut last year, plus the firm’s attempts to bribe staff to suck it up for the team (do they realise that its not always about the money?) and then finding out that the payroll/finance team was being offloaded to India, with more outsourcing to come – the people just aren’t happy – thanks to Neil Wilson & Mark Johnson. Well done lads!
Sounds like Mark is doing a sterling job to us. Everyone loves an international out-sourcer – there is nothing quite like sending Aussie jobs offshore to help foster staff morale.
Send the Firm Spy your news and views!
Loading...
interesting comment, as an outsider to this group one can see the main issue, the calibre of “management” being promoted into these positions is laughable! When it is so hard for graduates to gain entry level positions at the firm, most of the current IT “management” have never been near a tertiary institution and some have not even completed their HSC!!! Easy to see that the group has been set up for failure – makes an good case for outsourcing don’t you think.
If you have survived 3 restructures, have your desk moved multiple times, denied a payrise despite working longer hours, survived rounds of redundencies, move you into a job that dosnt even come close to your original job description or skill group, watch fellow colleagues lose their jobs to cheaper workers in India and then have your job also possibly outsourced – You too would really have low morale.
then they have the audacity to send us annoying screensavers and marketing campaigns of “What would you like to change?”.. FML