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Deloitte and EY have faced a slowdown in demand for advisory services. Aleksander Kalka/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Deloitte and EY are trimming employee numbers as the consulting sector faces a slowdown in demand.

EY's latest financial report showed performance and hiring fell to their lowest levels in 14 years.

The worst of the slowdown in the sector may already be over, one analyst told BI.

Deloitte and EY have trimmed staff as demand for professional services provided by the two Big Four firms declines.

In the UK, 250 employees working on advisory services have been fired from Deloitte in recent weeks, The Financial Times reported.

A source with knowledge of the matter told Business Insider that about 1% of the UK workforce had left the company as part of internal "performance management processes."

It was the third time in 13 months that the Big Four firm had laid off workers, the FT reported. Deloitte declined to comment on the latest layoffs.

Deloitte is the world's largest professional services firm in the world by revenue and employees. Its most recent financial report, published in September, revealed that hiring and earnings have slowed in the last year.

Deloitte's global workforce expanded to 460,000 in the 2024 financial year, an increase of 3,000. Tens of thousands of new hires were made in the previous two years.