Accenture to Cut 19,000 Jobs as IT Spending Slows

Accenture PLC is cutting about 19,000 jobs, or 2.5% of its workforce, over the next 18 months as the professional-services company looks to slash costs and streamline operations amid slowing IT spending.

The company, which offers IT consulting and other corporate services, said in a Thursday filing that most of the employees expected to be affected will be in nonbillable corporate roles. Accenture said it is still hiring to support “strategic growth priorities.” 

The company said it expects its business-optimization plan to cost about $1.5 billion, mostly from employee severance during the remainder of the current fiscal year and fiscal 2024.

Accenture employs about 738,000 people globally and added 28,000 people in the two previous quarters, Chief Financial Officer KC McClure said in a call with analysts Thursday. The company wouldn’t comment on the cuts beyond what it provided in a Securities and Exchange Commission 10-Q filing.

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