McKinsey, the management consulting firm, is offering its numerous senior staff career coaching services and up to nine months’ pay, extending a voluntary resignation offer. This initiative is seen as a response to market challenges leading to a reduction in the workforce, as reported by The Times.
During this transitional period, employees are free from client obligations, allowing them to dedicate their working hours to securing new employment. Managers within the UK division have the option to dedicate nine months to a ‘job search’ period to seek new employment opportunities. Throughout this period, they will continue to receive their full salary, potentially amounting to significant sums if they utilise the entire duration.
These managers will also benefit from access to McKinsey’s resources and career coaching services. Even if they fail to secure a new job during this period, they would still need to exit McKinsey.
This move follows McKinsey’s previous endeavours to downsize its workforce, including plans announced last year to eliminate approximately 1,400 positions, representing about three per cent of its staff, as reported by Bloomberg.
Furthermore, the reports also disclosed in February that McKinsey had given poor performance ratings to 3,000 employees. These employees are given a window of about three months to enhance their performance, failing which they may be advised to leave the company.
Last year, the company diverged from its usual practice of counselling underperforming employees to leave by implementing a plan to eliminate around 1,400 positions, primarily in non-client-facing roles.
Despite facing industry-wide challenges such as reduced client activity and increased public scrutiny, McKinsey reported record-breaking revenues of $16 billion last year.