The first sign at RSM was a calendar invitation rather than a memo. The title, “Business Update,” was ambiguous enough to refer to anything and specific enough to have a single meaning by this point. People in the company knew. Hundreds of employees had left by the time the meetings ended early last week, the majority of whom were junior employees who had completed their first or second hectic season and were still learning how to read a workpaper without flinching.
The figures continue to fluctuate. Going Concern’s tipsters described a wave of dismissals concentrated in audit, and The Times reported about 300 cuts in the U.S., a figure RSM has not formally contested. The timing is a little ironic. Only a few weeks prior, partners had been informed that bonuses this year were fully funded. That had to be paid for, and the math, according to a laid-off senior on Reddit, “kinda makes sense if you think about it long enough.”
| RSM US — Key Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Company | RSM US LLP |
| Industry | Audit, tax, and consulting (mid-market) |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
| Global Network | RSM International, the sixth-largest accounting network worldwide |
| Reported Layoffs (May 2026) | Around 300 jobs in the U.S., concentrated in audit and assurance |
| Service Lines Affected | Audit, with some tax and consulting roles |
| Earlier Round | Sept. 2024 — about 3% of the U.S. workforce, mostly consulting |
| Notification Method | Internal calendar invite labeled “Business Update.” |
| Reason Cited by Firm | Right-sizing to match current client demand |
| Coverage | The Times (UK), Accounting Today, Going Concern |
| Glassdoor Rating | 3.6 / 5 (based on 9,000+ reviews) |
| CEO | Brian Becker |
It’s difficult to ignore the pattern. In September 2024, RSM laid off roughly 3% of its employees, primarily in the consulting division, citing a six-month period in which revenue significantly fell short of expectations. Audit, which has historically been the firm’s more stable component, is currently suffering. It feels unfamiliar. The recurring revenue stream that has traditionally shielded mid-tier firms from the ups and downs of consulting is audit, which is the work that clients are legally required to perform. Something is changing underneath if the audit is being trimmed.
Speaking with people in and around the company, it seems that the cuts exceed the billable hours for this quarter. In parallel with its AI investments, RSM has been steadily growing its operations in India. The company has publicly stated that it plans to roughly double its headcount in India within three years. With the weary humor of someone who has seen this film before, one Going Concern commenter joked that the company’s AI budget is going to increase by a sum that is suspiciously similar to the salaries it recently eliminated. Naturally, it was a coincidence.
The corporate language and the personal narratives don’t sit well together. After working on tech clients for three years, a senior associate in the Bay Area posted that he was fired despite having completed 2,100 billable hours in the previous year. That is a ridiculous figure, with about nine billable hours per working day, fewer weekends, and no evenings. He reported feeling “okay.” Thankful, even. Commenters reacted like how accountants react to one another: they offered referrals, made jokes about lease accounting, and quietly acknowledged that public accounting has a way of wearing people down to the point where a layoff almost feels like a relief.
It’s not helped by the larger labor picture. According to Fortune’s analysis of the April jobs report, the white-collar economy continued to lose jobs while the transportation, warehousing, and health care sectors added new ones. In April, financial activities lost 11,000 jobs, while information lost an additional 13,000. Joseph Brusuelas, the chief economist at RSM, has been writing for months about how inflation of about 4% and gas prices above $4.55 per gallon are squeezing wages. Strangely, the company that advises clients on the job market is turning into an example of it.
The part that no one seems to know about is what comes next. There is a plausible argument that RSM is restructuring for an industry where AI handles routine tax and audit work, India handles the rest, and U.S. headcount becomes a smaller, more senior layer on top. This is what every mid-tier company will eventually do. Another less forgiving interpretation is that this is the third cycle of layoffs in the last two years, and companies that make layoffs the same week they pay partner bonuses typically have culture issues that persist long after the cost savings become apparent. Both readings seem somewhat accurate when viewed from the outside. The next 12 months will determine which one ultimately matters more.
