Bad news for employees of THESE companies as they are set to be sacked from jobs due to…, the name on top is…, tension for Indians due to…
The employees of several major US consulting firms may be staring at layoffs as companies are likely to cut workforce due to the policy of cutting government expenditure implemented by US President Donald Trump. According to reports, the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by world’s richest man and close Trump aide, Elon Musk, has instructed US government agencies to review contracts signed with private consulting firms to determine their necessity.
As per reports, in a bid to reduce “unnecessary spending”, the General Services Administration (GSA) has asked all agencies to report on the contracts of the top 10 firms with whom they have signed the largest deals. Experts believe that Deloitte, the leading consulting firm in the US, will be hardest hit by the new orders, and the company has already begun laying off workers in its government consulting division, Bloomberg reported.
Deloitte, IBM, Accenture hardest hit
In a statement, Deloitte said the layoffs were triggered by several factors, including a slowdown in growth in key areas, changing requirments of government clients, and the reduced number of voluntary attritions (workers who leave voluntarily).
As per a report by Fortune, more than 124 government contracts allotted to Deloitte have either been scrapped or significantly altered following orders issued by Elon Musk-led DOGE. The contracts are valued at a total of $1.16 billion (over Rs 9700 crore), including a now-cancelled deal with the US Department of Health & Human Services worth $51 million.
Notably, Deloitte isn’t the only casualty of the DOGE’s “efficiency drive”, as dozens of contracts of other major companies such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Accenture Federal Services, and IBM, have also been either altered or cancelled in entirety, the report said, adding that Booz Allen Hamilton has lost contracts worth $207.1 million, Accenture lost 30 contracts worth $240.2 million, while IBM’s 10 contracts worth $34.3 million have also been cancelled.
The combined market valuation of the top 10 consulting firms whose contracts are being reviewed is over $65 billion. A Wall Street Journal piece has warned that Trump’s policy could put billions of dollars of revenue of these firms at risk.
The Wall Street Journal has also warned that this policy could put billions of dollars of companies’ revenue at risk.
Major worry for Indian workers
The potential layoffs will also affect Indian workers who are employed by these consulting firms, with a major of them being H-1B visa workers, who may face deportation from the United States if they lose their jobs.
What is DOGE?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), officially known as U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, is an initiative launched by the second Donald Trump administration with the stated purpose of reducing wasteful and fraudulent federal spending, and eliminating excessive regulations.
Led by Trump’s close aide, tech billionaire Elon Musk, DOGE is not a Cabinet-level department of the United States government, but a temporary contracted government organization under the United States DOGE Service, formerly known as the United States Digital Service.
The Trump administration has defended the DOGE initiative, saying it aims to “modernize federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity”. The agency was created by an executive order by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025,and is scheduled to end on July 4, 2026.
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