Accenture Plc lowered its annual revenue and profit forecasts and said on Thursday it would cut about 2.5 per cent of its workforce, the latest sign that the worsening global economic outlook was sapping corporate spending on IT services.

More than half of the 19,000 jobs to be cut will be in its non-billable corporate functions, Accenture said, sending its shares up more than 4 per cent.

Since late last year, the tech sector has laid off hundreds of employees due to a demand downturn caused by high inflation and rising interest rates.

Rival Cognizant Technology Solutions last month pointed to “muted” growth in bookings, or the deals IT services firms have in the pipeline, in 2022 and forecast quarterly revenue below expectations.

IBM Corp and India’s top IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services have also flagged weakness in Europe, where the Ukraine war has affected client spending.

Accenture now expects annual revenue growth to be between 8% and 10 per cent, compared with its previous projection of an 8 per cent to 11 per cent increase. Earnings per share are expected in the range of $10.84 to $11.06 compared with $11.20 to $11.52 previously.

“Companies remain focused on executing compressed transformations,” chief executive Julie Sweet said in a post-earnings call referring to how businesses were trying to become leaner in the turbulent economy.

A survey of more than 1,000 IT decision-makers by US-based Enterprise Technology said they plan to reduce their 2023 budget growth.