Accenture: 15,000 Indian employees to be promoted to boost morale

Accenture has announced plans to promote over 50,000 employees worldwide by June this year, including 15,000 in India, according to a Bloomberg report. This decision is intended to boost employee morale following a six-month delay caused by weaker demand for consultancy services.

According to internal memos viewed by Bloomberg, the promotions will involve approximately 15,000 staff in India, 11,000 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and 10,000 in the Americas. The decision was announced to the employees yesterday, Tuesday, March 20.

This decision comes at a time when the New York-listed corporation is facing lower client expenditure and increased scrutiny on United States of America (USA) government contracts under President Donald Trump. Accenture likewise withdrew its diversity goals after the Trump administration requested businesses to stop using such business practices.

With over 8,01,000 employees worldwide, the June promotions account for almost 6 per cent of the company's total workforce. The majority of the promotions were initially scheduled for December, but were pushed back to June.

Accenture, like other consulting heavyweights such as McKinsey and Ernst & Young, quickly hired during the pandemic to satisfy increased demand. However, as economic development slowed, the company shed approximately 19,000 employees by 2023.

In the memos, Accenture said, “Our operating margin — how we measure profitability as a percentage of revenue — contracted compared to adjusted operating margin for the second quarter last year.” It also pointed to “an elevated level of uncertainty in the global economic and geopolitical environment.”

Some employees in critical growth sectors will receive base salary hikes, according to the memo, while incentives and performance-based stock will be decided in December, Bloomberg said.