Accenture makes belt-tightening moves

According to a source from the inside, Accenture has been doing some belt-tightening rounds lately especially in their solutions division.

In an email sent by Accenture Chairman & CEO Bill Green to all employees, he says that the company is very liquid and they are doing their best to keep it that way so there’s nothing worry about.

That doesn’t mean though that they wouldn’t do some cost-cutting here and there.

• Security detail has been cut by 50%. There used to be one roving guard for every floor and now there’s only one for every 3 floors. Same goes with City Service.
• Out of country assignments by developers have been postponed or canceled. Offshore clients must have made some adjustments.
• Free flowing juice and iced tea have been pulled off the shelves. Only the coffee machine remains.
• Probationary employees have been let go. Though this is within protocol, the volume of people who don’t make it as regular employees after 6 months has increased dramatically.
• Company Christmas Party has been canceled. I am told the Christmas Party is pushing thru.

Accenture’s BPO and call center divisions are growing strong. It’s just the solutions division that’s having problems getting new projects. Apparently, this isn’t an isolated case as competing firm, HeadStrong, is also letting go of several project consultants and developers starting this November.

Accenture operates about 9 offices in the Philippines, eight of them in Metro Manila and one in Cebu which is a call center.

Update:I’ve been receiving several private emails and confirmations from people I personally know working inside Accenture. One of them is about the Christmas Party pushing thru. Some of the statements need to be qualified too as they could be taken out of context.

Again, I’ve highlighted several times that Accenture is very liquid and some of these belt-tightening could be just a knee-jerk reaction to the financial crisis.