The firm does not have 100 million in profit at FY end. Revenue and profit are not the same. Prior to the pandemic, the firm (and any business) has significant expenses, debts, and operating costs. Payroll expense is typically a business's greatest expense. The pandemic introduced economic and business risk. I'll quote, the Paycheck Protection Program is "An SBA-backed loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis." This is what it what used for. Using a program as it was intended is not immoral, IMO. Was their fraud with PPP nationwide? Sure there was. If it is your MO to apply that narrative to whatever businesses you want, so be it. I wouldn't say it is immoral or "shitty" for any qualifying business to apply for a PPP loan in support of retaining its employees and make sure their financial wellbeing is intact.

You can point to our revenue growth in 2021, but that doesn't change the fact that in 2020, business leaders across the country were facing huge economic uncertainty about the future. It was take the loan or lay people off. To your point about "but in their defense it is what almost everyone else did too": almost everyone else was facing the exact same uncertainty and decisions about retaining or release staff. This is what PPP was for at that specific time, not in hindsight.

I've been at the firm on the consulting side for the better part of a decade. What career opportunity are you considering? My experience has been great, but my practice group is filled with great people who care about team development. We have some of the lowest turnover in the firm. Most are great, but individual practices can vary. Generally, working at the firm is great, but there are pockets of people who lack certain management skills or competencies which can create friction. I heard about a team that had a subcontractor on it who was eventually hired as a BD employee. It did not sound like she was fun to work with.

Work life balance (or work life "harmony", the new jargon) is generally pretty good. It is what you make it. I know of a consultant who made principal by his low 30s, but he worked some 3,000+ hour fiscal years to get there. Good on him, but that is not for me. I worked 500 hours the last two months with some really significant deadlines and limited staff resources to help. It was intense, but not Wall St investment banking intense. As a mid-senior level member of my team, I am (finally) well compensated for the effort I put in. The period passed and I took some time off. Steady state, I would say I typically work between around 45-50 hours a week. Obviously consulting work ebbs and flows with intensity. Even if we have multiple projects we are still obligated to high quality, timely provision of services/deliverables to our clients and this impacts work life balance in my experience.

I have non-trivial tenure with the firm on the consulting side. The decision and planning for the office move to outer Congress preceded the pandemic by over a year. Years in the making and no relation to PPP for the record.

I'll try to be fair regarding the PPP loans. Accounting and consulting organizations are highly risk averse/conservative by nature and for good reason - I've experienced this risk aversion to a frustrating degree when negotiation compensation at times in my career here. Though I do not have a seat at the C-level table, I am highly confident the procurement of PPP funds was done in a lawful way with significant due diligence. PPP was less about potential loss in clients as you allude to, and more about managing through the uncertainty of the pandemic economy and being able to retain employees. The firm had no layoffs or furloughs. That's 800 people who could continue to pay for expenses, mortgages, healthcare, child care, etc. From what I am told, the firm didn't layoff anyone during the '08 financial crisis which is admirable given that many professional services become a "nice to have" (read: demand drops) during significant economic contraction.

Just a couple of my thoughts from the inside. And believe me, I have no problem being the firm's first critic when I see things I don't like.