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"Accenture has reduced its global workforce by more than 11,000 in the past three months [...] The IT consulting group on Thursday detailed an $865mn restructur

by simonw 1y ago

"Accenture has reduced its global workforce by more than 11,000 in the past three months [...] The IT consulting group on Thursday detailed an $865mn restructuring programme and an outlook for the year ahead that reflects continuing sluggish corporate demand for consulting projects and a clampdown on spending within the US federal government." The big story here is that Accenture are losing a TON of work. The AI part of this headline isn't particularly interesting IMO.

onlyrealcuzzo 1y ago
> The big story here is that Accenture are losing a TON of work. The AI part of this headline isn't particularly interesting IMO. And from the article: > The company said revenues grew 7 per cent to $69.7bn in the year to August, for a net income of $7.83bn, up 6 per cent. Where's it talk about the TON of work they lost?
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  If I sell you a table for $100, and sell you another one later for $107, did that second table automatically take more work to make?
  - onlyrealcuzzo 1y ago
    No, but if the only piece we have to go off of is that my revenue from table increased 7%, are you going to assume or believe someone that says my total table sales are WAY down?
    - ceejayoz 1y ago
      But that isn't the only piece we have to go on; they're laying off 11k people.
      - onlyrealcuzzo 1y ago
        That has less than 0 to do with how many tables a company sells. If you can buy a table making machine and lay off 100% of your table makers, you could sell 3x as many tables, and have 20x as much profit.
        ceejayoz 1y ago
        That may be. The point remains - revenue and amount of work are not necessarily directly correlated. It's not uncommon for a business that's struggling to increase prices to boost revenue short-term, but screw themselves long-term.
  - geodel 1y ago
    Is the second one Table+ or Table Pro?
    - toomuchtodo 1y ago
      Table Copilot.
cl42 1y ago
Former management consultant here from a long, long time ago. It blows my mind when I see the consultancies cheer how they are adopting Gen AI to automate deck building, Excel analysis, etc. ... like, don't you see that your clients are READING your announcements and wondering "What the hell am I paying for?" If I pay you $10K/month (let alone $100K+) and you're sending me anything AI generated, you will never work for me again.
- gdulli 1y ago
  But it's also too big a grift for them not to be a part of. There's no good move so they're just running towards the ball like everyone else is.
- ryandrake 1y ago
  But do clients really care that the spreadsheets and slide decks are artisanal, hand crafted by humans? My impression, mostly from HN cynics, is that companies hire consultants as air cover to have an outside party justify business decisions they want to make. So what do they care how the supporting data was generated, as long as it comes with the Accenture logo?

by simonw 1y ago

onlyrealcuzzo 1y ago

> The big story here is that Accenture are losing a TON of work. The AI part of this headline isn't particularly interesting IMO. And from the article: > The company said revenues grew 7 per cent to $69.7bn in the year to August, for a net income of $7.83bn, up 6 per cent. Where's it talk about the TON of work they lost?

ceejayoz 1y ago
If I sell you a table for $100, and sell you another one later for $107, did that second table automatically take more work to make?
- onlyrealcuzzo 1y ago
  No, but if the only piece we have to go off of is that my revenue from table increased 7%, are you going to assume or believe someone that says my total table sales are WAY down?
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    But that isn't the only piece we have to go on; they're laying off 11k people.
    - onlyrealcuzzo 1y ago
      That has less than 0 to do with how many tables a company sells. If you can buy a table making machine and lay off 100% of your table makers, you could sell 3x as many tables, and have 20x as much profit.
      - ceejayoz 1y ago
        That may be. The point remains - revenue and amount of work are not necessarily directly correlated. It's not uncommon for a business that's struggling to increase prices to boost revenue short-term, but screw themselves long-term.
- geodel 1y ago
  Is the second one Table+ or Table Pro?
  - toomuchtodo 1y ago
    Table Copilot.

cl42 1y ago

Former management consultant here from a long, long time ago. It blows my mind when I see the consultancies cheer how they are adopting Gen AI to automate deck building, Excel analysis, etc. ... like, don't you see that your clients are READING your announcements and wondering "What the hell am I paying for?" If I pay you $10K/month (let alone $100K+) and you're sending me anything AI generated, you will never work for me again.

gdulli 1y ago
But it's also too big a grift for them not to be a part of. There's no good move so they're just running towards the ball like everyone else is.
ryandrake 1y ago
But do clients really care that the spreadsheets and slide decks are artisanal, hand crafted by humans? My impression, mostly from HN cynics, is that companies hire consultants as air cover to have an outside party justify business decisions they want to make. So what do they care how the supporting data was generated, as long as it comes with the Accenture logo?