Acenture
plans to hire about 1,00,000 people in FY16 and spend as much as $1 billion on
acquisitions, as it invests in new technologies at a scale that far outstrips
its Indian rivals. At its investor conference in New York on Wednesday,
Accenture outlined its strategy for its financial year ending August 2016.
"Last
year we hired roughly 1,00,000 people. Though the number isn't set for this
year, we expect to hire roughly in the same range," David Rowland, chief
financial officer at Accenture, told investors and analysts.
At that
pace, Accenture will remain the second-biggest employer in the IT industry.
Tata Consultancy Services had overtaken the company in headcount in 2013, a
title Accenture has since taken back.
TCS' hiring,
the most aggressive among Indian IT firms, will be around 65,000 in FY16,
falling far short of Accenture's recruitment. TCS' financial year ends in
March.
Accenture is
also beating its Indian IT rivals in the amount of money it is deploying for
acquisitions. Rowland said the company which spent about $850 million on
acquisitions in FY15, had estimated it would spend between $900 million and $1
billion on acquisitions in FY16.
Accenture
also said it would focus its business on three 'new technologies' -- digital,
cloud and cyber security, which together contribute $10 billion to its top line
or a third of its overall revenue.