Accenture to lay off hundreds in second round of Austin-area cuts announced since May

Cody Godwin, USA Today

Austin American-Statesman
Kara Carlson, Austin American-Statesman
June 22, 2023

Tech staffing firm Accenture is laying off more than 200 employees, marking the company's second round of Austin-area cuts in a matter of weeks.

The Irish-American contract firm is considered one of Central Texas' largest technology employers and is focused on information technology services and consulting. Globally, the company has contracts with large technology giants including Google and Meta to provide workers, but the tech industry at large has been increasingly looking to reduce costs and jobs.

The layoff was reported in a WARN letter, which stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, a federally mandated rule that requires employers to provide notice to local governments in the event of major layoffs.

According to the WARN letter, Accenture is cutting 218 employees at an Austin facility at 7700 W Parmer Lane with employees having their last days between August 14 and September 13. The notice said the layoffs result from a "change in client contract requirements and (are) expected to be permanent."

The cuts include a variety of positions including delivery and service associates, analyst positions, and 147 positions titled "Trust & Safety New Associate." The notice also said the facility would remain open.

In a statement, an Accenture spokesperson said "from time to time," the company adjusts its workforce on ongoing projects to meet the needs of its clients, and that the company is committed to supporting people through the transition.

The newest cuts follow close behind a previous WARN filing, where the company said in May it was slashing more than 500 jobs at a separate facility at the Domain. That notice said up to 549 people will be cut, with their last days between June 27 and Sept. 8, citing a "change in client contract requirements and expected to be permanent." The Domain address listed was the same as one of Facebook's Austin offices, a company Accenture contracts with to provide employees.

Prior to the cuts, Accenture had about 5,900 employees in Austin, according to the latest count from the Austin Chamber of Commerce, which tracks the number of workers the region's top technology employers have. Both WARN notices said the company would rescind an employee's termination if the employee obtains a new role within Accenture during the notice period.

Accenture's rounds of cuts in Austin have come as a number of technology giants have cut thousands of workers nationally in recent months amid an uncertain economic environment. While it has not been clear just how much impact Austin has seen, with many companies not disclosing local cuts or filing WARN notices, industry experts have said it's certain Central Texas has been impacted.

The Austin Accenture layoffs also follow a March SEC filing from Accenture that said the company would cut 19,000 employees globally, or about 2.5% of its workforce, over the next 18 months. The cuts follow the company's rapid growth in recent years. As of March, the company had more than 738,000 employees, up from 699,000 employees at the end of February 2022, according to the SEC filing. The company said at the time it expected the cuts to be primarily in nonbillable corporate functions that the company has been working to streamline to cut costs.

Accenture's cuts come amid an increasingly unsteady technology industry with many companies including those with significant Austin-area presences, such as Meta, Google, and Austin-based Tesla, cutting employees and costs in recent years.

Last week Austin-based software giant Oracle, laid off employees and rescinded job offers within its health unit, according to a report from Insider. It's unclear if any of the cuts impacted Austin. In Central Texas, the company currently employees about 2,500 people, according to the Chamber of Commerce.

Other cuts in recent months have also included Intel which confirmed in May it would be laying off employees nationally in positions across the company; Scribe Media, which laid off 90 employees in April; and Wipro, which cut 64 employees in May according to a WARN Letter sent to the Texas Workforce Commission.

In March, Austin-based job site Indeed.com also announced it was cutting 2,200 employees, or roughly 15% of its global team, saying there is a cooldown in the overall job market and demand for its technology. And in February, Round Rock-based Dell said it planned to cut 6,650 workers, or about 5% of its global workforce, to prepare for an expected economic downturn.