(Reuters) – Accenture Plc on Thursday lowered its annual revenue and profit forecasts and said it would cut about 2.5% of workforce, or 19,000 jobs, the latest sign that the worsening global economic outlook was sapping corporate spending on IT services.
More than half of the layoffs will affect staff at its non-billable corporate functions, the company said, sending its shares up more than 4% before the bell.
Accenture now expects annual revenue growth to be between 8% and 10% compared to the previous projection of 8% to 11% increase.
Last month, rival Cognizant Technology Solutions pointed to “muted” growth in bookings, or the deals IT services firms have in the pipeline, in 2022 after its first-quarter revenue forecast came in below market expectations.
Accenture said it now expects earnings per share to be in the range of $10.84 to $11.06 compared to $11.20 to $11.52 previously.
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Arun Koyyur)
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