Accenture will lay off 19,000 employees in the next 18 months, 2.5% of the global workforce

Accenture company logo on the screen of a mobile phone. DADO RUVIC (REUTERS)

The professional services firm Accenture will eliminate 19,000 jobs in the next 18 months, for which it will incur expenses of 1,200 million dollars (1,101 million euros) in severance pay and other associated costs, as the company has revealed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In addition, Accenture plans to allocate another 300 million dollars (275.3 million euros) in the consolidation of office spaces.

Specifically, these job cuts will affect 2.5% of its workers on the payroll and will mainly affect those who perform non-billable corporate functions.

The company had more than 738,000 employees on February 28, 2023. In this way, Accenture joins other consultancies that have proposed workforce adjustments.

Last month, McKinsey & Company announced its intention to lay off 2,000 people after experiencing notable growth in its workforce in recent years, while KPMG announced that it would lay off 700 workers in the United States due to slowdown in demand.

Likewise, EY (Ernst & Young) announced that it would reduce its recruitment targets by thousands of people.

First Quarter Results

These layoffs have been notified the same day that Accenture has presented the business results for the first half of fiscal year 2023, in which it registered attributable net profits of 3,489 million dollars (3,207 million euros), which is equivalent to an increase of 1.8% compared to the same period of the previous year.

On his side, revenues totaled 31,562 million dollars (29,012 million euros), 5.2% more.

Later, only in the second quarter, Accenture recorded an attributable net profit of 1,524 million dollars (1,401 million euros), 6.8% less, while revenue grew 5.1%, up to 15,814 million dollars (14,536 million euros).

“The good financial results this quarter once again demonstrate our ability to bring together technological, industrial and functional expertise.

Likewise, our services render us different from our clients”, affirmed Julie Sweet, president and CEO of the group.

On the other hand, the company has announced a quarterly dividend of 1.12 dollars (1.03 euros) per share for direct shareholders at the close of the stock market on April 13.

This will be paid on May 15 and will be 15.5% higher than the equivalent of the 2022 financial year. Looking ahead to 2023, Accenture expects revenue to grow between 8% and 10%, a slight cut compared to the previous estimate from 8-11%.

In addition, the firm quantifies at 7,100 million dollars (6,526 million euros) the amount that will be reimbursed to shareholders between dividends and share repurchase.

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