LONDON (CNN) Accenture plans to cut 19,000 jobs worldwide as it tries to cut costs amid a grim economic picture.
The Irish-American professional services company said it would spend $1.2 billion in severance pay, by 2.5% of its workforce over the next 18 months, and an additional $300 million in a filing Thursday to dismantle to consolidate its office space.
More than half of the jobs eliminated would be among back-office workers, the company said.
Accenture (ACN), which employs 738,000 people worldwide, said in its latest quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is continuing to hire but “has taken steps to rationalize [its] and transforming our non-billable business functions to reduce costs.”
The $167 billion company cut its revenue growth guidance for fiscal 2023 to 8%-10% from its previous estimate of 8%-11%.
Accenture shares are up 3.9% to hit $263 a share in early trade following its announcement. The New York-listed stock is down more than 5% over the past 12 months.
Accenture’s competitors are also trying to cut costs. Consulting giant KPMG announced in an internal memo last month that it would shed nearly 2% of its US workforce as it expects client demand to slow, according to a report in the Financial Times.
McKinsey could shed up to 2,000 non-consulting employees in one of the largest rounds of layoffs ever, Bloomberg reported last month, citing unnamed sources close to the matter.
It’s not just the feeling of the pinch. Thousands of tech workers have been laid off in recent months as higher interest rates, fears of inflation and recession have led to a slump in advertising and consumer spending.
Last week, Facebook parent Meta said it plans to lay off another 10,000 workers, the second round of significant job cuts in four months. Collectively, the cuts will reduce Meta’s headcount by about 25%.