Global IT services firm Accenture slashes 19,000 jobs
The company's workforce, the majority of which serves clients, increased to approximately 7,38,000 as of February 28, 2023, compared to 6,99,000 a year ago. It employs 3 lakh people in India.
Published: 23rd March 2023 06:09 PM | Last Updated: 23rd March 2023 09:47 PM | A+A A-
Accenture logo (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
BENGALURU: Tech major Accenture is the latest firm to announce layoffs as it confirmed on Thursday that it would fire 19,000 employees or 2.5% of its current workforce over the next 18 months.
In an SEC filing, the tech consultancy giant 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), and we expect over half of these departures will consist of people in our non-billable corporate functions," it added.
Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO, Accenture, said in a statement that we "are also taking steps to lower our costs in fiscal year 2024 and beyond while continuing to invest in our business and our people to capture the significant growth opportunities ahead."
The company's workforce, the majority of which serves clients, increased to approximately 7,38,000 as of February 28, 2023, compared to 6,99,000 a year ago. It employs 3 lakh people in India.
Accenture reported $15.8 billion in revenue, an increase of 5% in US dollars, in the second quarter of fiscal 2023. The company follows the September- August financial year. It also lowered its annual revenue projections. For fiscal 2023, the company now expects revenue growth to be in the range of 8% to 10% in local currency, compared to 8% to 11% previously.
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For fiscal 2023, the company expects operating cash flow to be in the range of $8.7 billion to $9.2 billion compared to $8.5 billion to $9.0 billion previously.
Accenture also said that its new bookings for the quarter were a record $22.1 billion, with consulting bookings of $10.7 billion and managed services bookings of $11.4 billion.
"Accenture estimates $1.2 billion for severance and $300 million for consolidation of office space, with approximately $800 million expected in fiscal 2023 and $700 million in fiscal 2024," said the company.
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