Accenture to Delay Bulk of Promotions by Six Months on Outlook

Accenture Plc is planning to push back the bulk of its staff promotions by six months in the latest sign of a prolonged slump that’s hurt the wider consultancy industry.

The Dublin-based technology giant told employees in an internal blog post last week that it will announce most promotions in June, rather than in the usual month of December, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information.

The firm had first informed managing directors of the change in the schedule earlier this month, said one of the people. A representative for Accenture, which has about 750,000 workers across 120 countries, said the firm is “permanently changing our primary promotion date from December to June, which is when we have better visibility of our clients’ planning and demand.”

The move by the New York-listed company is a further indication of the uncertainty roiling the professional-services industry as clients pull back on spending. Accenture shares tumbled the most in four years in March after it lowered its outlook, saying revenue for fiscal 2024 is likely to grow as much as 3%, down from an earlier forecast for 5%.

Rivals including McKinsey & Co., Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers have also been cutting jobs to weather the slowdown, though a surge of late in demand for automation and artificial intelligence-related projects has helped.

Like its peers, Accenture went on a hiring spree during the Coronavirus pandemic in response to a surge in demand. More than a year ago, it announced it would cut 19,000 jobs — about 2.5% of its workforce at the time — over the following 18 months.

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Jennifer Creery in London at jcreery1@bloomberg.net

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Sam Nagarajan

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