NEW YORK – Accenture is delaying start dates for some recent hires as it looks to recalibrate its massive workforce for a more cost-conscious environment.
“In some cases, for example, for some recent graduates, we are adjusting start dates based on the needs of our clients and business,” Accenture spokesman Rachel Frey said on Thursday, declining to provide further details.
One of those recent graduates, who declined to be identified as it could risk her future employment prospects, said she had accepted a full-time consulting position with Accenture in Britain that was supposed to start in June. Her start date was delayed twice, first to October and then to early 2024. She ultimately decided to decline the job offer rather than keep waiting.
An Accenture recruiter apologised for the delay and said “the decision was made to create the best possible new joiner experience”, according to an e-mail seen by Bloomberg.
The company is offering an additional signing bonus to some people whose start dates have been pushed back, according to a person familiar with the company’s hiring practices who was not authorised to speak publicly.
Accenture’s hiring delays have also come up in anonymous Reddit forums dedicated to discussing the company.
“I have been strung along for months,” said one user, a college senior, who has yet to receive a start date. “I simply don’t know what to do at this point.”
Another, who previously interned at Accenture, is considering applying elsewhere.
“It just sucks because I missed out on a lot of companies and roles in the fall recruiting cycle,” the person said, referring to the period when employers descend on college campuses to interview applicants.
The delays are the latest blow to the professional services field, which includes Big Four accounting firms such as KPMG and Deloitte, along with blue-chip consultants McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group. Booming business during the pandemic led to hiring binges, and now the firms have too many consultants chasing too little work.
When contacted by The Straits Times in Singapore, a company spokesman said the firm is still actively recruiting for new roles in Southeast Asia, including those for recent graduates. “At Accenture, we continue to focus on ensuring we have the right talent to serve our clients and run our business today and in the future.”
Accenture said in March that it will cut 19,000 jobs – about 2.5 per cent of its workforce – over the next 18 months. Ernst & Young this week scrapped a plan to separate its consulting and audit practices into two separate companies, creating uncertainty and intrigue in a staid sector not known for much drama.
Accenture chief executive officer Julie Sweet said in March that the company, which employed about 738,000 people as at February, is “taking steps to lower our costs in fiscal year 2024 and beyond, while continuing to invest in our business and our people”. BLOOMBERG
