Accenture has announced on Thursday a downward adjustment in its full-year revenue projection in the latest sign that the once booming consulting market is slowing.
Citing an “uncertain macro environment, the consulting said the revised forecast anticipates growth between 1% and 3%, a decrease from the previous estimate of 2% to 5%.
According to a financial Times report, the New York-listed consultancy also forecast earnings per share of between $11.41 and $11.64, down from a previous range of $11.41 to $11.76 per share.
Like many of its rivals, Accenture embarked on a hiring binge during the pandemic as it sought to meet rising demand from companies struggling to adapt to the changes wrought by the coronavirus crisis.
The company employs about 740,000 people across 120 countries, offering IT and business strategy consulting and outsourcing such as customer service centres.
Shares in Accenture fell almost 7% in pre-market trading in New York.
It will be recalled that Deloitte, a rival firm this week announced the biggest overhaul of its operations in a decade as the Big Four firm, which competes with Accenture, braces for a market slowdown.
Nairametrics reported that a year ago, Accenture announced plans to axe 19,000 jobs as businesses, particularly those in the tech sector, began to scale back spending on consulting services.
The Irish-American professional services firm said in a Thursday filing that it would spend $1.2 billion in severance to cut 2.5% of its workforce over the next 18 months, and another $300 million to consolidate its office space.
According to the company, back-office employees would constitute more than half of the laid-off positions.
Accenture stated in its most recent quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it “initiated actions to streamline its operations and transform our non-billable corporate functions to reduce costs.”
The $167 billion company reduced its revenue growth forecast for the fiscal year 2023 to between 8% and 10%, down from 8% to 11% previously.
