EAs, EQ and AI: Price Waterhouse Cooper fires and re-hires

A few weeks ago, Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP (PwC), a major international professional services and accounting firm with a significant presence in Tampa, laid off a large portion of its executive assistants (EAs), reportedly in favor of artificial intelligence tools and offshore support. Now, the firm appears to be trying to bring many of them back.

PwC is one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, employing tens of thousands across the U.S. in audit, consulting and advisory roles, making staffing shifts at that scale notable across the corporate services sector.

Reportedly, PWC laid off hundreds of EAs nationally, though under 1,000, in the last month. The layoffs were described as sudden and unexpected, with affected employees given roughly four to six weeks of severance pay.

Now, some of those same workers are being contacted about returning.

“It has been brought to my attention by several people in the EA Direct Connect that they have been reached out to by previous employer [PwC] asking them if they would be interested in returning,” said EA recruiter Joelle Paban, who owns and operates EA Direct Connect, a recruitment and networking platform for executive assistants.

From numerous online forums, anonymous former PwC EAs contend that higher pay discussions never materialized, despite PwC’s website listing a surplus of open EA positions, many of them similar to the roles that were eliminated just weeks prior.

One former employee wrote that not only was higher pay non-negotiable, but any severance received during the layoff period would need to be paid back if they accepted rehire.

The episode comes as companies across industries test how far AI can replace or restructure administrative roles, particularly those historically tied to scheduling, coordination and executive support.

Paban said the shift toward AI is already changing the role, but not eliminating it.

“A.I. is impacting the role of Executive Assistant. It’s allowing us to focus on the professional and strategic side with our executives,” she said.

A staunch advocate for the role, Paban said the position has evolved beyond traditional administrative work.

“We’re not running dry cleaning and coffee anymore,” she told the Catalyst. “But SWOT analysis, which is allowing for us to be in day-to-day business.”

That shift, she argues, is exactly why the role cannot be easily replaced.

Paban repeatedly pointed to emotional intelligence, or EQ, as a core function of the role that AI cannot replicate.

“As far as sitting in a board room, executive assistants are never going to go away,” she said. “EQ is never going to be replaceable by A.I., and the whole role of EA is high EQ.”