Grant Thornton Australia confirms EA job cuts and offshoring to the Philippines

Grant Thornton Australia has confirmed plans to cut a small number of executive assistant (EA) roles as it transitions to a new administrative operating model involving a Philippines-based vendor. 

The move comes amid wider changes to administrative support functions across Australia's professional services sector.

According to Accounting Times, the firm confirmed the job losses following reports that some local executive assistant roles would be cut and outsourced to the Philippines. 

However, Grant Thornton Australia has not disclosed the number of employees who will be affected.

“As part of this change, we have engaged an experienced vendor based in the Philippines, and unfortunately, there will be a small number of job losses as we transition to the new model,” a Grant Thornton spokesperson told the publication.

New administrative model

The firm said the changes are part of a National Administrative Operations model designed to standardise administrative support and align its workforce structure with future business requirements.

“To support our firm’s strategy and future growth, we have designed a simpler, more standardised National Administrative Operations model to ensure we have the right mix of skills and roles that can grow with the firm’s needs,” the spokesperson said.

Grant Thornton Australia said it would support affected employees during the transition while moving towards a more flexible operating structure.

“While these decisions are never easy, we are committed to supporting our people through the process as we create a more flexible model that will also deliver consistency and quality across our firm nationally,” the spokesperson said.

The firm also clarified that the changes are limited to its administrative support function and do not signal a broader restructuring across other business areas.

“This is a specific change focused on our administrative support function and is not part of broader plans to make similar organisational changes across other areas of the firm.”

The spokesperson added that the review of the administrative support function began before the firm entered exploratory conversations to join Grant Thornton Advisors.

Wider changes at Grant Thornton

The announcement comes amid other significant developments at Grant Thornton Australia. Earlier in October, the firm appointed a new national head of forensic consulting, following the appointment of a new national not-for-profit leader in September.

In August, Grant Thornton Australia's partners voted in favour of a $1 billion buyout agreement with multinational platform Grant Thornton Advisors LLC.

The firm said the administrative support review was initiated independently of exploratory discussions regarding the potential tie-up, positioning the changes as a targeted operational shift rather than part of a wider organisational restructuring.

Professional services firms offshore EA roles

The changes at Grant Thornton come as other major professional services firms in Australia restructure their executive assistant functions, with offshoring emerging as part of their administrative operating models.

PwC Australia has mandated that its executive assistants spend 60% of the working week in the office from January 2027, after moving more than half of its EA workforce to Manila earlier in 2026.

KPMG Australia also offshored three-quarters of its 260 executive assistant roles to the Philippines around the middle of the year.

These developments highlight the changes taking place in administrative support functions across the sector, as firms reassess how these roles are structured and delivered across locations.