McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company is an international management consulting company. Since 1993, McKinsey has been working with Russian market leaders, providing services to a wide range of clients from Russia other countries, including companies specializing in,, and oilgas bank retail many other sectors. McKinsey also cooperates with Russian state authorities, international financial institutions and cultural institutions.

Business in Russia

Main article: Yakov and partners (formerly McKinsey in Russia)

History

2025

Return to offline interviews due to rogue candidates using AI

Tech giants Google and Cisco Systems, as well as consultancy McKinsey, are reverting to the format of in-person job interviews due to massive fraud by job seekers using artificial intelligence to deceive employers. This became known in August 2025. Candidates use AI services as hidden assistants to answer questions and complete test tasks, which forces companies to reconsider approaches to recruiting. Read more here

Dismissal of 10% of employees

Consultancy McKinsey has cut more than 10% of its workforce in the past 18 months in one of the biggest staff cuts in the firm's nearly century-long history. The number of McKinsey employees is approximately 40 thousand people against more than 45 thousand at the end of 2023. This became known at the end of May 2025.

According to Financial Express, the company laid off 1,400 office employees and 400 specialists in the field of data and software development. In 2023, McKinsey's revenue amounted to $16 billion, while in the 2024 report the company did not disclose either revenue or headcount.

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Фото: Forbes

The staff reduction is associated with a slowdown in revenue growth in the consulting services market after a sharp jump during the coronavirus pandemic. During the pandemic, the company increased its staff by almost two-thirds to meet the increased demand for consulting services.

According to the publication, the introduction of generative artificial intelligence technologies has become an additional reason for the decline in the number of personnel. Artificial intelligence takes on tasks previously performed by junior employees and increases the productivity of other workers.

McKinsey management noted that "artificial intelligence allows you to achieve new levels of team productivity." Automating routine processes with AI technology reduces the need for a large number of junior consultants.

McKinsey's main competitor in the consulting services market, the Boston Consulting Group, reported revenue growth of 10% in 2024 to $13.5 billion. BCG reported an increase of 1,000 employees to 33,000.

The development of machine learning and big data technologies allows companies to independently conduct analytics and develop strategies without the involvement of external consultants. This reduces the need for traditional consulting services.^[1]

2024: $650 million payout for drug sales tips that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans

In mid-December 2024, McKinsey & Co agreed to pay $650 million to settle allegations that company employees recommended Purdue Pharma how to speed up sales of its addictive painkiller OxyContin. The uncontrolled distribution of this drug became the basis for a real opioid epidemic that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. Read more here.

2023: 2,000 employees laid off

Consulting giant McKinsey will lay off 2,000 people, Bloomberg reported in February 2023, one of the largest rounds of cuts in the consultancy's history. This could be a consequence of the side effect of larger layoffs in the tech industry.

McKinsey, known for developing staff reduction plans for its customers, is picking up an axe for some of them, with the focus, according to people with knowledge of the matter, being on support staff who have no direct contact with customers.

2021: $573 million compensation payment to facilitate sales of opioid drugs in the United States

In early February 2021, the consulting company McKinsey agreed to pay $573 million as part of an agreement to settle a case investigating its participation in facilitating the sale of opioid drugs in the United States. Read more here.

2019: $15m fine for withholding information about conflicts of interest

In mid-February 2019, McKinsey was fined $15 million for hiding information about conflicts of interest.

McKinsey, part of the "big three" consulting giants, has been accused of violating disclosure rules in three cases of bankruptcies the company had worked on in previous years. McKinsey hid information about possible conflicts of interest in these cases, although it was obliged to report them immediately.

McKinsey agreed to pay $15 million to settle bankruptcy violations

The prosecutor was the US Trustee Program (USTP), which is responsible for the bankruptcy system in the United States. The regulator's message indicates that the amount presented by McKinsey is one of the largest fines for violating bankruptcy disclosure rules.

McKinsey has not fulfilled its obligations under bankruptcy law and has not been fully honest with the court and regulators, says USTP director Cliff White. - However, McKinsey, despite its status, is obliged to meet the standards that all specialists involved in bankruptcy cases follow. If the company continues to adhere to such a strategy, we will be forced to apply more serious measures.

The settlement would end the Justice Department's legal battle with McKinsey over three failed companies: Alpha Natural Resources, Westmoreland Coal and SunEdison. Under the agreement, the Justice Department will no longer investigate McKinsey for the 14 bankruptcies the company has worked with since 2001, when it began advising insolvent clients. However, the Ministry reserved the right to file new complaints if it received information that McKinsey was hiding important information or did not want to cooperate with law enforcement.^[2]

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