AUSTRALIA: The income of a partner at PwC Australia rose 6% to AU$814,000 in 2025, even as the firm’s profit fell 2% to AU$608 million — marking the second consecutive year partner pay increased despite lower earnings.
Chief executive Kevin Burrowes expected partner income to increase “quite significantly” this year.
According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Mr Burrowes said the firm’s artificial intelligence (AI) adoption had boosted efficiency, with productivity gains lifting company profits towards the end of 2025 that continued into the first quarter of 2026.
In fact, Mr Burrowes said he would have expected the company “to have an excellent year”, with “too much demand” for its services, if not for the Middle East war.
“Super delighted with the momentum the firm has got…But I think the thing I’m most proud of for the firm is that our productivity has improved in our business between 10 and 20 per cent,” he said.
He also noted that the firm’s direction would involve “fewer people doing the same amount or fewer people doing more”, as staff and partners used AI tools to “do more with less”.
The figures, however, drew backlash from netizens, with one saying, “So this is what AI will drive. Wealth concentration and the ordinary working person get let go or paid less.”
Another wrote, “So a bunch of executives sacked staff, blaming AI, then gave themselves a fat pay rise. Got it.”
A third added, “Soon enough, they won’t need the partners either. They’d be able to save AU$814,000 a pop and in other instances millions.”
Mr Burrowes was brought in in mid-2023 to lead a turnaround following the firm’s tax leaks scandal, when a former senior partner shared confidential government tax plans with colleagues. He is expected to step down at the end of the year.
Probes, including by the Australian Federal Police, into former partners linked to the tax leaks scandal are ongoing. /TISG
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