Accenture Cuts Work Force

Accenture Ltd. is establishing a sabbatical program for its consulting personnel as one of several steps to ease overstaffing at the firm.

About 800 positions at Accenture will be eligible for the program, known as FlexLeave, while another 600 positions will be eliminated outright as a result of restructuring of support functions.

The sabbatical program will be open to consulting personnel at the senior-manager level and below with more than 12 months of service. The sabbaticals will range from 6 to 12 months. Consultants participating will receive 20 percent of their salaries and continuation of their employer-provided benefits.

Accenture has about 75,000 employees worldwide.