Accenture, a major player in the Indian IT services market, on Thursday revealed that it will be cutting close to 19,000 or 2.5% of its global workforce in the next 18 months, as a result of the difficult worldwide macroeconomic environment and the poor rate of revenue growth. Reportedly, the tech behemoth has about 350,000 employees in India, out of which, it is planning to let go of 7000.
The multinational IT services company announced its first significant layoffs, joining big tech firms like Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft. Amid the grim economic condition globally, the IT industry has announced the elimination of around 70,000 jobs since January this year.
“We are also taking steps to lower our costs in the fiscal year 2024 and beyond while continuing to invest in our business and our people to capture the significant growth opportunities ahead,” Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO, of Accenture, said in a statement.
According to the company, more than half of the layoffs will affect employees at non-billable corporate operations. This news caused its shares to increase by more than 4% before the announcement.
The business said that its revenues increased by 5% to $15.8 billion in US dollars. The new reservations increased by 13% to $22.1 billion. Accenture started taking steps to decrease expenses by streamlining processes, modernizing non-billable corporate functions, and consolidating office space during the second quarter of fiscal 2023. Business optimization expenses were recorded by the corporation at $244 million in the second quarter, and through fiscal 2024, they are anticipated to total about $1.5 billion.
