All articles tagged with #consulting industry
A new wave of AI-powered consulting startups is emerging, aiming to automate and democratize consulting services for mid-market businesses, challenging traditional firms like McKinsey with innovative AI solutions and attracting significant funding.
The consulting industry is facing a significant transformation with potential long-term effects, including fewer entry-level and senior roles, driven by AI adoption, shifting demand, and industry restructuring, making career progression more challenging for newcomers.
The consulting industry is facing significant challenges due to AI-driven efficiency gains and reduced government contracts under Trump, leading to layoffs and a potential industry shake-up, with some firms like McKinsey adapting by leveraging AI for internal efficiency while others face decline.
McKinsey has agreed to a $650 million settlement with the US Department of Justice over its role in advising opioid manufacturers, including Purdue Pharma, during the opioid crisis. The firm admitted to conspiring to misbrand prescription drugs and will face restrictions on future pharmaceutical consulting work. A former senior partner, Martin Elling, will plead guilty to obstructing justice by destroying documents. This marks the first criminal accountability for a consulting firm in such a case, highlighting the legal risks for consultants involved in client misconduct.
McKinsey & Co is offering some employees in the U.K. and the U.S. nine months of pay and career training to leave the firm, as part of an initiative linked to the company's staffing levels. The initiative allows workers to focus on finding a new job for nine months before leaving the consulting firm, with access to career coaching and company-provided tools. The move comes as McKinsey and other consulting firms navigate a slowdown in the industry, which reportedly produces about $860 billion globally.
China's state security authorities raided multiple offices of international advisory firm Capvision, part of a broader crackdown on the consulting industry as Beijing tightens control over what it considers sensitive information related to national security. Capvision was accused of hiring consulting experts with "high remuneration to illegally obtain various types of sensitive data" and "posing a major risk" to China's national security. The recent raids have raised alarms in the international business community, at a time when the Chinese government is trying to woo foreign investment to help revitalize a slowing economy after three years of self-imposed Covid isolation.
Economists Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington argue in their new book, The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments, and Warps Our Economies, that the consulting industry is selling snake oil that is poisoning governments and distorting economies. They claim that consultants often lack the knowledge and expertise that organizations turn to them for, and that their work can often be done more cheaply and effectively in-house. The authors recommend reigning in the use of consultants and empowering in-house staff, and ensuring greater transparency and accountability in consulting contracts to fight conflicts of interest.