Accenture India staff set to bear brunt of global layoffs
BENGALURU: Technology major Accenture will trim around 25,000 people or 5% of its global workforce, which is likely to have a significant impact on India , its largest employee hub with nearly 2 lakh employees out of the global headcount of 5 lakh.
Layoffs at Accenture first came to light when news reports in July said the company was in the process of slashing up to 900 jobs in the UK in a bid to reduce costs in the face of lower demand for its services.
Accenture, which follows the September—August fiscal year, was also one of the first IT services firms to cut its revenue growth forecast for the fiscal to 3-6% from 6-8%, given the slowdown in business due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, Accenture said that the downsizing is on grounds of performance as some of them do not possess the right skills required to add value to the business in the long-term.
“Every year, as part of our performance process, we have conversations with our people about how they are performing, areas for improvement, their potential to progress, and whether they are a long term fit for Accenture,” Accenture India said in a statement. “This year, across all parts of our business and all career levels, we will identify approximately 5% of our people as our lowest performers, and these individuals will transition out of Accenture. This is consistent with our actions each year,” the statement said.
Accenture also said that in India, it continues to hire, and as part of its ongoing compensation programs, it also recently recognised a number of its people with bonuses and promotions.
The news was first reported in The Australian Financial Review citing an internal staff meeting by Accenture CEO Julie Sweet in mid-August. It said that in an internal global staff meeting streamed online this month, Sweet said that despite cutting subcontractors and halting fresh recruitment, the company still needed to reduce numbers.
Recently, Nasdaq-listed IT services firm Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. reportedly laid off thousands of employees on bench who were not actively involved in any client projects. IBM too has reportedly laid off about 2,000 employees globally.