Accenture is likely to lay off 5 per cent of its staff in India, impacting several thousand employees, after the current appraisal cycle wraps up. India is Accenture's largest base with a count of 2 lakh of its 5 lakh employees worldwide.

Julie Sweet, Accenture CEO, told in an internal staff meeting that was streamed online that in a normal year, 5 per cent of employees are transitioned out and hiring takes place to replace them. "Right now, we're not in a demand scenario, so if we manage out the same percentage of people and don't replace them, it allows us to continue to invest and preserve some people who have lower chargeability for when the market comes back," she said, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR). AFR said that Accenture is looking to cut 5 per cent of its global workforce.

In a reply to Times of India's queries, an Accenture spokesperson reiterated that every year as part of the performance process, the company discusses areas of improvement, progress potential and whether the employee is a long-term fit for Accenture. "This year, across all parts of our business and all career levels, we will identify approximately 5% of our people as our lowest performers, and these individuals will transition out of Accenture. This is consistent with our actions each year," said the spokesperson.

Like most IT companies, Accenture too has seen a collapse of its revenue. In the last quarter its revenue grew 1.3 per cent.

The company is reportedly cutting jobs in the UK and Australia as well. Around 900 employees are likely to be impacted in the UK while around 180 are likely to be impacted in Australia.