KPMG bullying in Saudi Arabia

Question

I recently read an article on KPMG written by FT in Saudi Arabia and it was beyond depressing. it showcased a culture of extreme bullying unheard of even in high school pitch. And the worst part of all it has been continuing for years and the top management were aware of it. but the management ignored it. Even it hints on a senior partner committing suicide because of the bullying. If any of you read the article, what is your take on it? Was considering a career there but after I read the article, I was so disappointed in the firm. I shared the article for those who didn't see it. The plight of expat workers at KPMG Saudi Arabia | Financial Times (ft.com)

Answer 1

Hi there,

This has so many layers to it! Fundamentally, this is definitely not ok and not acceptable.

That said, please go in eyes wide open to industries and countries. Investment banking is notoriously brutal…hence why we saw that scandal a few months back with the recent undergrad hires (I believe it was JP Morgan). Consulting is notoriously brutal…hence why we saw the extremely unfortunate EY suicide a few months back. Saudi Arabia is an autocratic regime that consistently tops the charts of mistreating its citizens and workers…hence why we have this scandal. I am (unfortunately) not surprised by this article. (I turned down a Saudi project years ago for similar reasons)

That said, I worked in Australia, where worker's have many rights and are well protected…we still had so many cases of burnout, “abuse” etc. We also had so many cases of fantastic bosses and teams.

Please be aware that bullying is going to occur in the workplace (unacceptable, but that is the reality). Your job will be to avoid it, address it, mitigate it, and call it out.

Alas, good and bad firms and workers exist everywhere, but be smart about where you chose to work and who you chose to work for.

I've had bosses and jobs I've never looked back on and was grateful to be out of their “clutches" from, and I've had bosses where I now know their homes and families well.

Such is the world and the professional world.

Does KMPG Saudi Arabia seem to have a particularly bad problem? Seems to be the case. Are you going to see “high school” bullying in your career? I'd love to say not, but you probably will. Will you see this level of negligence. Probably not, but just be wary of what you get yourself into!

Answer 2

First, what you read in FT can be right in most cases but not always. It happens very often that FT takes absurd positions against stock buybacks or other topics. That basically shows that some people working there, being journalists and not consultants or finance people, have no clue about what they are talking about.

Second, some consulting firms have notoriously better management of their employees and it may be inferred that KPMG is not among them. Several hints point at it (type of projects, an overall decrease in revenues in years of fantastic growth for consulting, etc.).

Third, here you have to overlap KPMG and the country we are talking about, a place where the ESG initiatives apparently have not arrived yet.

Four, consulting is brutal. It is not for everybody and it is reasonable to expect pressure. However, I really doubt that a senior partner is willing to commit suicide because of bullying.

Answer 3

Hi there,

I wasn't aware of the article, but it does sound horrendous indeed.

I can understand that these sort of things do happen in some offices, but I don't feel they represent the industry as a whole. I would also take into account the added layer that media mostly focuses on negative portrayals on the management consulting firms in general.

Best,

Cristian

Answer 4

In consulting you will find great people, but also (unfortunately) a good deal of sociopaths. It should be a meritocracy, but in some places the ammount of internal politics at some levels is significant. And even in a meritocracy, this is an increadibly competitive industry - life is not easy.

I have absolutely no details on what's going on there, but it doesn't surprise me that it would happen at some place.

The real issue is that sometimes people get caught in a subworld (i.e. their work in that office and with those people) that seems to be the reality, but it is just a small subset of reality. That happens frequently in consulting because people work long hours and very frequently lose touch of everything else (business and personal) happening outside that subworld.

As such, the trick here is to avoid having a narrow view of the situation, and understanding that you can ALWAYS leave, find another job, change office, go to somewhere else, have friends outside consulting (and outside that firm…).

Just KNOWING this is powerful, as other people will not hold the same ammount of power over you, because you simply are INDEPENDENT of them. Even if in their subworld it feels like you are not. Well, if you refuse to live in their subworld, then you are actually the one holding power over them. It doesn't mean they will enjoy you having a broader life, but honestly, the people that have a problem with that are the people it is worth having a problem with.