Accenture slashes 19,000 jobs worldwide

Blame management for this one - they still think that tech is an operational cost overhead, not a strategic long-term interest, for their companies, which is why a company like hertz paid a company like accenture $32 million for a site that was never delivered.

I have seen the same contractor kept around for 12 years, slapped down upon applying for FTE after ten years (GE). They would rather pay more than allow them into the FTE ranks--unless their pedigree fits. Humiliating.

I used to hire and manage contractors as an FTE and was a contractor initially at GE. As such, I participated in the yearly consultancy hourly negotiations and onboarding with HR. Had a spreadsheet with all of the consultants and their hourly rates for our division. When I hired I would only consider the $125 and up candidates.

I work at a small consultancy now where I'm a partner. We don't do any business with GE but we do contract with other large companies willing to pay our rates. And they do so happily, even through pandemics and downturns. Our consultants keep the majority of the billing rate--save for expenses like office space and other business expenses and the "sales team" (some of which also bill). FTEs overall are the lowest paid. Even the "managers." Few evaluate the deal because they reason that they get severance or will not be laid off as readily. Ignoring the fact that the contractor already built in the severance and doesn't want to go to the Christmas party.

I've been in client meetings where the devs (and managers) from an offshore Indian consultancy were in. Putting aside the huge language barrier due to the thick accent, they were barely able to comprehend English instructions. And to top it all off, they simply didn't know what they were doing (in this case Salesforce). Literally the thing they were hired as "experts" in, they couldn't do. All with zero shame throughout the whole ordeal. But the cheap price-tag and mountains of hidden technical debt were worth it for the client it seems.

After the meeting and talking with the client, I went ahead and assigned a go-getter junior from our side to research and figure out what needed to be done, handed it on a platter to them after a few hours, and they still couldn't figure it out when I asked about it weeks later.

What they were experts in, though, is re framing their failings on something or someone else. Instead of "we don't know where to find the API keys for this Salesforce API in the Salesforce GUI (and can't be bothered to google it)", they say "we would like to have a workshop about how you are integrating with our Salesforce API." where they weasel information out of others and make it seem like other parties did something wrong.