The Big Tech crisis continues. Accenture is the latest tech giant to announce a round of layoffs, joining companies like Amazon and Meta.
The technology services company reported Thursday that it plans to shed a total of 19,000 jobs worldwide. Accenture executives made this decision after, according to Europa Press, receiving lower-than-expected forecasts for annual revenues and earnings.
Accenture reported revenues of $3.49 billion for the first fiscal quarter. This figure represents an increase of 1.8% over the previous period. Julie Sweet, president and CEO of the group, explained what these results meant for the company:
This quarter's strong financial results once again demonstrate our ability to combine technological, industrial and functional expertise. Likewise, the services we provide differentiate us from our clients.
However, the good financial results were not enough to keep the entire workforce on the payroll. Accenture informed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it would lay off 2.5% of its current workforce. This frill result in cutting 19,000 jobs out of the 738,000 that the company claimed to have as of Feb. 28, 2023. The cutback comes due to economic uncertainty, according to the report Accenture submitted to the SEC:
There continues to be significant economic and geopolitical uncertainty in many markets around the world, which has impacted and may continue to impact our business, particularly with regard to wage inflation and volatility in foreign currency exchange rates. In some cases, these conditions have slowed the pace and level of client spending.
The move, however, will not come cheap for the technology company. UPI reports that Accenture will pay out $1.2 billion in compensation over the next three months. In addition, Accenture intends to invest a further $300 million to consolidate its office space.
