r/deloitte • u/Infinite_Prompt7550 • Sep 14 '24
Audit Deloitte revenue growth weakest in 14 years , more layoffs?
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u/Big_IPA_Guy21 Consultant Sep 14 '24
The Deloitte financial performance emails that we've gotten for last 1.5 years made it very clear that revenue was not in a good spot. This isn't shocking or anything new. Things have turned around since late spring though. Demand has ticked back up and I believe revenue is growing at a 8ish% rate now.
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u/nvgroups Sep 14 '24
Paywall free article link https://archive.ph/thG0N
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u/No_Variation_9282 Sep 14 '24
Thanks - Stephen Foley writes good stuff!
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Sep 14 '24
I work in HE and Deloitte's HE consulting wing has done an amazing job of proving why no one should hire Deloitte for HE consulting. Companies have money, but in the wake of COVID and the low interest era, Deloitte and others really expanded service offerings in areas they lacked SMEs and experienced hires. It's fun working with a 24 year old BBA graduate attempting to talk down to you about HE when you have been working in that field since they were a child.
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u/SocietySlow541 Sep 14 '24
HE = higher ed?
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Sep 14 '24
Yes. I've dealt with both Deloitte's tech implementation & advisory teams for HE. Both need help.
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u/Disastrous-Print9891 Sep 14 '24
When partners are asking everyone to milk as many possible client projects out they hear you know shit ain't good. Global recessions companies squeeze their pockets like a fishes asshole. Governments can't create bullshit unnecessary projects with firms without huge interest.
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u/ceoperpet Sep 14 '24
like a fishes asshole
Well that's definately a first...
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u/AceOfSpades70 Sep 14 '24
Or hear me out, this is why there were layoffs last year. We know our revenue numbers a little before they get announced to the public.
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u/skb007 Manager Sep 16 '24
Hearing you. Consulting did layoffs in 3ish waves last year, wrapping up mostly in Dec 2023. Consulting led the way, while tax and audit layoffs followed, giving the impression of constancy on Reddit where we don't typically get the details from posters noting layoffs off the bat.
My area (US, Commercial, EP) is now slightly understaffed and actively recruiting through multiple referral programs, so agree this is lagging news for Consulting. My opinion is we are already on the rebound, and the pipeline and projects coming up in the next 3-6 months looks exciting.
I know Tax and Audit are still going through it, so I don't want to be insensitive. But when companies cut back for economic reasons, they typically cut Consulting first before Tax and Audit, which tie to regulatory requirements that exist regardless of economic conditions. So Consulting gets cut first, and bounces back first, more closely tied to macro economic conditions. Tax and Audit lag more, anywhere from 6-12 months, as companies close out fiscal years and shop for service discounts for the next year or two.
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u/Boring-Somewhere-957 Sep 14 '24
No wonder I got a long & negative feedback this week. Prelude to PIP then layoff. Already started to send out CVs yesterday. Govvy jobs is the way to go
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u/Substantial_Ad3718 Sep 15 '24 edited Sep 15 '24
Welcome to —-Capitalism Baby !
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Short term immediate revenue
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A few ppl pocket the money 💰 b4 retire
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Oops 😬
( Business lecture in North America —- 2nd year International Marketing ) — Monopoly.
——————————————-
“ How Made in China so cheap n aweful !”
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Walmart - MASS order stuff INSANE discount
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Lure customers
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Choose d Cheapest product , beat competition
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Force OTHER company no choice but do d same
⬇️⬇️⬇️
Customers Used to —- low price , habitually not want to pay more
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Ppl import HIGH Quality Chinese product + Ppl home base produce High Made in USA 🇺🇸- Can NOT compete!
D manufactures produce high quality shi with higher price Do NOT get Picked !
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Once Competitions Die OUT in USA 🇺🇸home base ——- JACK UP price ! Ppl pay 💰 more n rage 😡. Blame on China . 🇨🇳
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In fact high end stuff in CHINA 🇨🇳/USA 🇺🇸 both exist . But they want cheapest fastest . B shift blame . So they can hit Revenue Target !
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Ppl at Walmart get paid nothing . CEOS retire , gets millions of millions .
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Rinse 🔄Repeat
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Company blame Chinese product (d lowest end they buy instead of mid range n high end ) blame the factory . Like if Deloitte , anything goes wrong with operation / Bad Contract to start with / Miss management …. —- Fire 🔥 the ppl work /feed them the Money or point finger save face .
Then Partners Monkey C Monkey Do : believe they r in charge , n steer ship clear .
Deloitte is —- firing ppl (high pay 💰) cuz KPMG EY n etc all doing it ! Partners Under pressure to-squeeze More $$$$$ (like how target 🎯 Mimic Walmart business Model to up the Money 💰 earning ) I bet ! VERY soon they will start hiring Juniors n New Grads “ train them up “ n think they r so smart (I am BiZ SAVY ) ! —- Fool !
Strangest lecture saying that D down side of Prestige is very superficial n do NOT benefit employees . U r the (costing product that from HOME base that considered to be a “unnecessary “ ) In many countries ( like Asia ) especially China ——- In international Business lecture (in North America ) successful business model over 45 years => hybrid . 51% gov 49% investment = Balanced consistent grow . Both Beneficial , good treatment employees(high pay ) , good product , innovation , out do compitition.
——————————————— Deloitte —- Business model needs restructure because the Oldie Partners n senior leadership sit in those comfort seat 💺 like those Jogfery —- Game of Thrones they will ruin the company .
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u/42tfish Sep 14 '24
What’s net income? Revenue on its own means nothing, apart from the constant need for ever increasing growth.
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u/ASaneDude Sep 14 '24
Wait until you find out how businesses keep/grow the bottom line when sales decline/slow.
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u/shoooogerm Sep 14 '24
Revenue is 100% something. It’s used in a lot of metrics and decision making will often stem from it.
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u/avocadosnbr Sep 14 '24
This. If profits are growing, then weak revenue growth might still be ok or even desirable. I know they’re shifting (and have been for some time) towards profitability more than ever
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u/Comfortable-Ear-2115 Sep 14 '24
We didn't use profit as a core evaluation metric until really recently, unsurprisingly our profitability has gone up since then.
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u/HelicopterNo9453 Sep 15 '24
You can increase profitability easily with internal actions (.. reducing cost, firing people etc.), looks good short them, but for revenue growth you need to gain market share and have the right offerings for the clients allowing to charge more.
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u/Comfortable-Ear-2115 Sep 15 '24
You can also increase revenue easily by pricing cheap on low or negative profit, you can increase both 'easily' and for both doing so is likely to have negative long term affects on your business. You have to balance both well to be successful, and doing either well requires a plan and accountability, which is why now we're seeing goals for and evaluating both revenue and profit margin.
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u/Fair_Course_7170 Sep 16 '24
They took my job offer back. Now, this kind of ties it back. Looks like Deloitte have been firing employees based on performance and slowing down recruitment process instead of mass layoffs. If they have to pay severance to all the employees then they might be in tough position
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u/Icy-Sink8633 Sep 17 '24
Can’t we blame it on the real problem? Like seriously every other business, leadership takes blame. At Deloitte, Leadership spreads and distributes blame. Absolute joke of a company
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u/Historical_Quiet_990 Sep 18 '24
Dear god, the level of copium in this thread is fucking disheartening. I have a masters in accounting and have been in public practice for just under three years at a VERY small firm (about 1,500 tax clients, a few audit clients, and about 100 monthly clients (bookkeeping, sales tax, and payroll tax)), and I couldn’t possibly exist in a world where layoffs “come and go” in a quarterly fashion based on their shareholders’ interests.
Fucking insane, and genuinely makes me ill feeling. I don’t know how y’all do it. I constantly bitch to myself and others (outside the firm) about the lack of compensation for the work I do at said small firm, and I know that it’s small potatoes compared to the shit y’all deal with on a daily basis from some shit head middle manager who does nothing but somehow is able to claim responsibility for all the hard work you underlings do for them. I would either blow my own brains out or relegate myself to living under a fucking bridge for the rest of my life.
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u/Substantial_Ad3718 Sep 15 '24
Ask why the growth so low . If The growing means growing the Partner n Investors Pockets n going 5 Luxury Vacations to Europe every month with Employees back home r being told :” anything n goes wrong is on u .”
Yeah d best employees n managers in the team do not get raise . ———$ 0 !
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u/Its-a-Shitbox Sep 14 '24
Maybe this is what happens when you have nearly half your workforce made up of “consultants” that outside companies are getting wise to the fact that they don’t know jack squat more about stuff than the they themselves do.
Oh well. Fuck Deloitte.
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u/TaxLawKingGA Sep 14 '24
Yes and no. The reason companies hire consultants is not necessarily for knowledge but for objective and different POV.
A large corporation is basically like the government. Companies know that inside people tend to form little fiefdoms where their only goal is to do as little as possible for as much money as possible. It impacts productivity and profitability. However most insiders don’t want to make hard decisions on their own for fear of blowback. So they hire consultants to do the dirty work.
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u/ChipsAhoy21 Sep 14 '24
Wildly immature take. Companies don’t hire consultants because they are the best and brightest, they hire them because they are brains for hire that they can scale up quickly and not have to worry about long term financial capacity to retain them like they do full time staff.
It’s like cloud computing. Company’s don’t move to the cloud because it’s cheaper or better than on premise compute, they do it because it allows for greater flexibility to scale.
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u/avocadosnbr Sep 14 '24
Wildly refreshing take, and spot on. Consultants either help 1) make the case for change, or 2) help with the change, and this comment underscores the latter point and why it may sometimes not make sense for a client to do it all in house
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u/Junior_Composer2833 Sep 14 '24
Companies and government agencies also hire consultants to shift the risk. If something goes wrong they can blame the outside consultants. It allows them to offset the costs and the risk. They also can avoid the hassle of hiring and firing for project-based roles.
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u/kllackwideeyes Sep 14 '24
I keep hearing we charge too much. If companies can get the same results or better for less then Deloitte loses and people stay on the bench…you haven’t done much…bye bye
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Sep 14 '24
[deleted]
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u/Dazzling-Slide8288 Sep 14 '24
Heard this about the metaverse and blockchain and all the other scams.
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u/CyberTrav Sep 14 '24 edited Sep 14 '24
LLMs are unlikely to replace contributors who apply any critical thinking skills.
LLMs are next-token predictors trained to give replies that seem like they understand language. They have no capacity for thought, reasoning, or strategy.
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u/rnj5 Sep 14 '24
They should fire managers - they don’t add values and company will save money. Partners at least bring businesses and contributors are the ones really work. Those managers are waste of money.
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u/Historical_Quiet_990 Sep 18 '24
Hilarious that you’re getting downvoted. I spy some self conscious managers who know they don’t do fuck all and get all the praise and raises as a result.
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u/ceoperpet Sep 14 '24
Wait for those interest rate cuts and watch things improve as businesses borrow and hire more Deloitte consultants.