Negative Growth Among Consulting Firms in the First Quarter

"We are seeing continued weak demand across large parts of the market, especially in IT projects. At the same time, many consulting firms have reduced their workforce and focused on maintaining profitability," says Mattias Loxi, co-founder of Cinode, the leading SaaS platform for consulting firms.

Demand in the energy, automotive, life science, defense, and cybersecurity sectors remains very high. Addnode, Rejlers, and Combitech grew the fastest.

"On a positive note, companies have been able to cut costs and maintain their margins. The average margin only fell slightly to 8.4 percent compared to 8.8 percent last year. Additionally, nearly all consulting firms expect a significantly stronger fall, with a clear market turnaround," Mattias continues.

Exsitec, Combitech, and Prevas had the highest operating margins.

 "Two out of three consulting firms had fewer employees at the end of March compared to the beginning of the year. Costs have therefore continued to be reduced during the last period. At the same time, fewer acquisitions are taking place than before," concludes Mattias.

See the full summary of the consulting firms' first-quarter 2024 reports in the infographic here.