As EY prepares to demerge its auditing and consulting businesses, one of its main rivals is poised to take advantage of what he sees as the “disruption” and “uncertainty” caused by the proposed split, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

Emphasizing that he plans to keep his auditing and consulting business under one roof, PwC Global Chair Bob Moritz told the FT that he expects to “lure senior managers and even some partners as the firm pursues a big expansion in headcount.” That expansion entails adding 100,000 jobs over five years.

He also told the FT that the firm made 17 acquisitions last year to fill gaps in its consulting services.

Moritz said that he has seen hiring opportunities pick up as EY partners learn more about the breakup. These partners stand to earn multi-million dollar payouts, as The Wall Street Journal and others have previously reported.

He said that it would be easier to pick off senior managers, one or two layers below partner.

“People now see one side or the other and [ask] ‘is that the organisation I want to be part of?’ and ‘is that the culture I want to be part of?’” Moritz said of the EY employees whom he hopes to hire. “My hope is that with a little disruption in the industry, that creates opportunity [and] we can pick up on the uncertainty, not necessarily just [at] EY.”

In response, an EY spokesperson said, “They should be worried about us poaching from them,” maintaining that “the split will create two faster-growing companies with more opportunities for its staff, including a more rapid path to partner,” according to the FT.

Moritz used the occasion of PwC’s publication of its revenues for the year to June 30 to talk to the FT. Overall, the firm posted 13.4 per cent revenue growth for a total of $50.3 billion.