Accenture to cut more jobs, cites slowing economy

NEW YORK, (Reuters): Accenture Ltd., the world's largest consulting firm, on Friday said it would cut an additional 1,500 jobs, or 2 percent of its work force, citing the economic slowdown and an unusually low number of staffers leaving in a high turnover industry.

With the economy slumping, big companies are not relying as much on consulting firms and start-up tech companies no longer have the cash to hire expert management advice.

In June, Bermuda-based Accenture said it would eliminate 1,400 jobs, also because of the slowdown and "the lowest attrition rate in years." The new announcement comes on the heels of recent job cuts at other top consulting firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG Consulting Inc. and Deloitte & Touche.

Accenture, the former consulting arm of Big Five accounting firm Andersen, said it will eliminate 1,000 consultant positions in the United States and 500 support staff jobs around the world. It will also extend its sabbatical leave program for consultants in Europe and Asia.

"This is very consistent with what we're seeing in the industry," said J.P. Morgan senior analyst Dirk Godsey. "It was anticipated and it was a minor cut. It's a thousand consultants out of 60,000 (at Accenture) so I don't think you'd miss them if they were all in a room."

Accenture, with about 75,000 employees in 46 countries, also said it will defer the start date for about 1,000 new consultants.

Typically, 15 percent of Accenture's employees leave the company every year on their own accord, but this number has shrunk to about 13 percent amid the economic slump, a company spokesman said.

Consultants these days have fewer places to go and the dot-com business, which lured many of them away in previous years, has lost its sheen, J.P. Morgan's Godsey said. The consulting industry on the whole sees a attrition rate of 20 percent each year but that number has declined this year, he said.