IT and consulting giant Accenture plans to cut 2.5% of its workforce, or about 19,000 jobs, over the next 18 months as it seeks to reduce costs.
More than half of the affected employees will be in non-billable
corporate roles, according to the company's SEC quarterly report.
- Accenture
has slashed its annual revenue and profit forecasts and plans to spend
$1.2B on severance payouts for laid-off employees.
- It's also planning to consolidate office space, a move expected to cost $300M.
- While
the tech behemoth continues to hire for certain roles, it said it has
initiated various actions to streamline operations and "transform our
non-billable corporate functions to reduce costs."
- The moves suggest that corporate spending on IT services is slowing down significantly as the economic outlook worsens.
- Consulting giant and Accenture rival KPMG is cutting nearly 2% of its U.S. workforce, while McKinsey is expected to eliminate the positions of 2,000 non-consulting staff, one of its biggest layoffs ever.
