What it does: As a major player in the accounting and management consulting industry, PwC provides various services, including accounting, taxation, risk management, business compliance, auditing, strategy consultancy, and human resource consultancy to various corporate organisations and even government agencies. As an advisory firm, PwC clients come from every industry you can think of. A few examples are aerospace, defence, banking, health care, energy, hospitality, etc.
Mission: PwC UK's mission is to foster trust in society and adopt a problem-solving approach to significant problems.
Size and presence: PwC employs over 22,000 staff members across its 19 offices in the UK.
Best known for: PwC is best known as one of the big four accounting and advisory firms. The other three are EY. Deloitte, and KPMG. The firm is also known as the second-largest professional service network in the world. PwC is renowned for its quality of accounting and advisory services in the UK corporate finance sector.
The good bits: PwC employees enjoy several perks and benefits. The pay is competitive.
The not-so-good bits: Employees may work beyond the official working hours and during weekends, resulting in a poor work-life balance.
The history of PricewaterhouseCoopers can be traced to 1849 when an English accountant named Dangle Lowell Price founded his accounting practice in London. Sixteen years later, Lowell Price crossed paths with William Holyland and Edwin Waterhouse, and the company became a joint partnership. A few years later, William Holyland quit the partnership and sought to start his firm. The firm was renamed after the remaining partners, Price, Waterhouse & Co., in 1874.
As the 19th century progressed, Price, Waterhouse & Co. gradually gained more popularity through their practices, and it was only a matter of time before they broke into the US market. The first American office was opened in New York. Shortly after, they opened another office in the firm's home country, Liverpool.
In the late 20th century, Price, Waterhouse & Co. rebranded to its current name after merging with the consulting firm, Coopers & Lybrand to become PricewaterhouseCoopers. This made PwC both an accounting and consultancy firm. In the 21st century, PwC gradually established its presence across several countries and regions, becoming one of the biggest accounting and advisory firms in the world.
PwC has a great company culture that thrives on inclusion. This gives its employees a sense of belonging. It also fosters a healthy working environment where employees of different ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, genders, and social statuses can thrive. PwC fully commits to the growth of its employees and their day-to-day improvement at work. At PwC, employees feel like they are part of a big family geared towards a common goal. The company respects the contribution of its employees and considers their differing perspectives. This is a good breeding ground for fresh graduates and interns.
PwC, like other big firms, wants the best and brightest minds on board. So they adopt a thorough hiring process designed to get them just that. Their recruitment process includes the application stage, game-based assessment, interview via video call, physical assessment, interview with a company, and the job offer.
PwC is employee-oriented, which means they're invested in their employees' professional growth. As long as the employees do their due and perform well, their career trajectory will be positive. Fresh graduates at PwC are surrounded by some of the best hands and minds in the industry. There are undergraduate work placements, summer internships, and virtual insight week, among other career programmes that the company offers, as well as ample training and development opportunities.
Fresh graduates at PwC earn an average annual salary of £57,500.
Some of them include:
PwC partners with organisations such as Hospice UK to provide health care for adults and children with terminal ailments as well as provide support for their families. PwC also collaborates with BeyondFood to reach out to charity organisations in the UK.
There is no widely published controversy so far.