Accenture to cut 19,000 jobs and consolidate office space in cost-cutting efforts.
In an attempt to reduce costs amidst a challenging economic environment, Accenture, the Irish-American professional services company, has announced plans to eliminate 19,000 jobs worldwide over the next 18 months, which represents 2.5% of its workforce. The company will also consolidate its office space in an effort to save $300 million.
The majority of the impacted positions will be back-office staff. Accenture, which currently employs 738,000 people globally, has committed $1.2 billion in severance payments for affected employees. Despite the job cuts, the company continues to hire and has stated that it is streamlining operations and transforming non-billable corporate functions to reduce costs.
Accenture's revenue growth outlook for the 2023 fiscal year has been lowered to between 8% and 10% from its previous estimate of between 8% and 11%. The move is in line with cost-cutting efforts by competitors such as KPMG and McKinsey. Following the announcement, Accenture's shares rose by 3.9% to $263 per share.