Accenture Is Delaying New-hire Starts On Top Of Job Cuts

“In some cases, for example for some recent graduates, we are adjusting start dates based on the needs of our clients and business," Accenture spokeswoman Rachel Frey said by email Thursday, declining to provide further details. 

One of those recent grads, 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 the UK 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 pass on the job rather than keep waiting.

An Accenture recruiter apologized for the delay and said “the decision was made to create the best possible new joiner experience," according to an email seen by Bloomberg. Accenture 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 wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

Accenture’s hiring delays have also come up in anonymous Reddit forums dedicated to discussing the company. “I have been stringed [sic] along for months," said one poster, a college senior, who has yet to receive a start date. “I simply don’t know what to do at this point." Another, who had previously interned at Accenture, was considering applying elsewhere. “It just sucks because I missed out on a lot of companies and roles in the fall recruiting cycle," the poster 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 & Co. 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. Accenture said last month that it would cut 19,000 jobs — about 2.5% 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 of February, is “taking steps to lower our costs in fiscal year 2024 and beyond, while continuing to invest in our business and our people."