Accenture to axe 19,000 jobs

Mar 23, 2023

Accenture is to cut 19,000 jobs worldwide – including in the UK – after lowering its annual revenue and profit forecasts.

The US-owned consultancy said the figure represented about 2.5% of its 738,000-strong workforce.

Accenture confirmed staff in the UK would be affected, but did not provide further details.

But it said more than half of the losses globally will come from its human resources, IT, finance and marketing departments over the next 18 months.

The company employs around 11,000 workers nationwide, including in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Leeds.

The firm previously announced it was cutting between 700 and 900 jobs in the UK back in 2020, as it blamed “additional strain” on the business caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Accenture’s announcement came as it also lowered its annual forecasts, with it now predicting revenue growth to be between 8% and 10%, compared with its previous projection of an 8% to 11% increase.

The firm further expects to cough up $1.2bn (£0.97bn) in severance costs.

But it hopes to save around $1.5bn (£1.2bn) by closing offices globally.

It is the latest in a string of job losses in the corporate and tech sectors following a fall in demand amid high inflation and rising interest rates, with Amazon, Facebook owner Meta, and Just Eat among those recently announcing cuts.

An Accenture spokesperson said: “While we continue to hire, especially to support our strategic growth priorities, during the second quarter of fiscal 2023, we initiated actions to streamline our operations and transform our non-billable corporate functions to reduce costs.

“Over the next 18 months, these actions are expected to result in the departure of approximately 19,000 people (or 2.5% of our current workforce).”

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