Comp Watch ’20: Plante Moran Is Not Giving Out Raises—And Some People Are Not Pleased (UPDATE)

[Updated on Sept. 10 with additional information.]

Back in late June, we were told that Plante Moran employees wouldn’t be getting raises this year, that the firm was only paying out bonuses at 75%, and that there wouldn’t be a 401(k) match, presumably due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Well, we got an update this week on two of those three things, and unfortunately for PMers it’s not the one about “no raises.” According to a source, the following information was given to employees on Aug. 28:

They have recently announced that they are paying out the remaining of our bonus (to fulfill 100%) and completing our 401k matches.

At least that’s something, right? But when I asked this person if raises were still off the table at this point, we were told:

Correct … no raises as of now.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed for you guys that management changes its mind.

[Originally posted on June 24.]

While every large or midtier accounting firm under the sun has doled out some sort of austerity measure to cut costs during the coronavirus pandemic, there’s been one firm in particular that Adrienne and I have been wondering about. From our Slack recently:

AG: So who’s left to report layoffs? Plante Moran, maybe?

JB: Yep, Plante Moran

AG: And aww Plante Moran. My buddy and crush Gordon Krater retired so idk what’s going on over there

So, yeah, what is happening at Plante Moran? Well, we got an answer to that question from a tipster today:

They’ve cut a number of people (performance based). They’ve also frozen pay and are only paying out bonuses at 75%

And no 401k match this year

That’s all firmwide

Underperformers being culled is nothing unusual in the meat grinder that is public accounting. Our tipster had no idea how many people were pushed out the door, so instead we’re going to focus on the people who are still left carrying water for PM.

The good news is PMers haven’t had their pay cut during the pandemic, and according to our source, partners have taken a cut in pay, although Plante Moran grunts haven’t been told how much.

Now for the bad news. Some firms, like RSM US and PwC, are only giving raises to those getting a promotion. But that’s not the case at Plante Moran, our tipster told us. No raises across the board, not even for those with new job titles.

Yea so no pay raises this year. We’d typically get a raise July 1

So I asked our tipster how this news is being received. And as you would expect, not too well:

On the audit side people are not happy at all since seniors and managers are working more hours for the most part. Not sure about consulting/tax. People are happy to still have a job but not happy about the pay situation.

Well, it’s time to add Plante Moran to our COVID-19 austerity measures tracker. Did we miss anything? How do you PMers in tax and consulting feel about not getting raises this year? Give us a shout using the contact information below.