Challenging 2023 for the Nordic Consulting Firms

We primarily see weaker demand in many industries while the number of employees has been adjusted. The number of inquiries for new assignments during the quarter decreased by 14.6 percent according to Ework.

 "Many consulting firms have faced significant challenges. At the same time, the market is diversified with several companies that continue to perform strongly. Energy, automotive industry, life science, defense, and cybersecurity continue to show very strong demand. However, it has been considerably tougher within real estate, e-commerce, telecom, and public authorities," says Mattias Loxi, co-founder of Cinode, which is the leading SaaS platform for consulting firms.

Addnode, Sweco, and Rejlers grew the most during the quarter. All have acquired larger companies during the year.

 "Margin-wise, two-thirds of the companies have worse operating margins than last year. Many companies that were strongly affected by the economic cycle have quickly implemented cost savings and managed to reduce expenses," continues Mattias.

Exsitec, Gofore, and Softronic have the highest margins for the quarter.

 "Two out of three consulting companies have fewer employees in the last quarter compared to one quarter earlier. On an annual basis, we see that half of the companies have reduced their workforce," concludes Mattias.

See the full compilation of consulting firms' fourth-quarter reports and financial statements for 2023 in the infographic here.