One of Australia’s largest professional services firms is making a dramatic shift that could signal the end of an era for corporate support roles.
KPMG Australia has revealed plans to offshore nearly 200 executive assistant positions to the Philippines in a move that will save the company roughly $15 million each year. The decision comes as Big Four consulting firms grapple with declining demand and mounting pressure to reduce costs.
Under the proposal leaked to corporate gossip Instagram account The Aussie Corporate, the transition will roll out in two phases. Around 100 roles will shift offshore in April, followed by another 100 across May and June 2026.
The Numbers Behind the Decision
The financial logic is stark. According to job website Indeed, the average KPMG executive assistant in Australia earns approximately $87,000 annually. The same roles advertised in the Philippines by outsourcing provider optiBPO are listed at roughly $10,000 per year.
That’s a wage differential of nearly 90 per cent, translating directly to KPMG’s bottom line.
Only about 65 executive assistant roles will remain in Australia after the restructure, reserved primarily for the most senior staff. Even KPMG partners will lose their dedicated executive assistants under the new model.
The proposal is still subject to consultation with affected employees, with a final decision expected in early to mid-March. KPMG has indicated it will attempt to redeploy impacted staff to other roles within the business where possible.
Consulting Slowdown Drives Cuts
The offshoring initiative follows a challenging period for KPMG Australia. In the year to June 2025, the firm reported revenue of $2.3 billion, a slight decline from the previous year.
Despite the revenue dip, partner remuneration climbed 10.3 per cent over the same period.
The firm has already shed significant headcount. KPMG cut approximately 635 roles during 2024-25, including 21 partners, bringing total staff numbers below 9,000 for the first time in recent years.
The cuts reflect broader challenges facing the Big Four consulting firms. Demand for advisory services has softened considerably following a post-pandemic boom, while increased scrutiny of the consulting sector has weighed on government contracts.
KPMG’s restructure will see three-quarters of its Australian executive assistant roles move offshore. [KPMG Melbourne]
When Offshoring Works and When It Doesn’t
Nicole Gorton, executive recruitment director at Robert Half, said outsourcing executive assistant roles can succeed in specific circumstances.
“Where it’s very administrative task heavy, such as triaging emails or formatting documents and entering data, that’s when we’re seeing these jobs be offshored,” Gorton explained. “That’s where organisations see that they can have cost benefit by offshoring.”
However, she cautioned that the strategy becomes problematic when assistants play strategic roles.
“These responsibilities require deep knowledge of the business and local stakeholder understanding,” Gorton said. “The EA role has evolved to being a strategic partner who often has input in conversations and decisions. Proximity matters in these cases, and EAs are often the glue to the business.”
Gorton noted that offshoring tends to be cyclical, with companies periodically reassessing the arrangement as management challenges emerge. Nonetheless, she has observed increasing outsourcing activity over the past decade.
A Disappearing Profession
The shift at KPMG reflects a broader decline in traditional executive assistant roles across Australia.
Job advertisement data from employment marketplace Seek shows personal assistant, executive assistant and secretarial positions have fallen steadily in recent years. As of December 2025, these roles declined 18 per cent over the year.
By comparison, the wider administration and office support sector dropped 7 per cent, while overall job advertisements fell just 4 per cent.
Ironically, KPMG itself has tracked this trend. The firm’s own labour market analysis identified executive assistants as among the occupational groups “going extinct” in Australia.
The number of executive assistants fell by more than 20 per cent to 82,300 over the past decade due to the automation of administrative functions through smartphones and apps, KPMG reported last year.
KPMG Not Alone in Offshore Push
KPMG is hardly the first major firm to pursue this strategy. Rival Big Four firm EY began offshoring executive assistant roles in 2018, establishing a precedent within the professional services sector.
Australian banks have also drawn criticism for similar moves. NAB is currently looking to offshore 110 digital messaging roles to its Indian operations, while Commonwealth Bank faced union backlash after posting 30 India-based job advertisements just months after announcing 283 local redundancies.
The Finance Sector Union successfully pressured CBA to remove those offshore job listings.
What KPMG Is Saying
A KPMG spokeswoman said the firm remained in consultation with affected staff and emphasised a commitment to fair treatment.
“We are continually reviewing the way we work to build a scalable, modern, resilient business that positions us for growth and competitiveness,” the spokeswoman said.
“In moving away from the practice of doing everything in-house, we are proposing a different resourcing model to provide support services. Consultation with our people remains ongoing.”
She stressed the firm would approach the process with “empathy, respect and transparency” for impacted employees.
The remaining Australian-based executive assistants will see changes to their role descriptions and scope of responsibilities, though specific details have not been disclosed.
Industry Outlook
The KPMG restructure may accelerate a trend already reshaping corporate Australia. With advances in collaboration technology and growing acceptance of remote work arrangements, the traditional executive assistant role faces an uncertain future.
For the roughly 200 KPMG employees whose positions are on the chopping block, the next few months will determine whether they can find alternative roles within the firm or must seek opportunities elsewhere in a contracting job market.
As one of Australia’s most prominent professional services firms, KPMG’s decision will likely influence workforce strategies across the corporate sector, potentially triggering similar moves at competitors already watching the bottom line.
