Accenture Supports Canadian Charities with C$780,000 in Grants and Volunteering

Press release:

September 18, 2012

Accenture Supports Canadian Charities with C$780,000 in Grants and Volunteering

 

Grants reflect Accenture’s Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship initiative

 

TORONTO; September 18, 2012 – Accenture has awarded 12 grants totaling C$780,000 to help support Canadians who are seeking job skills to re-enter the workforce. In addition to the grants, Accenture employees are volunteering and donating pro bono consulting skills, reflecting the company’s Skills to Succeed initiative to equip 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business.

 

“By working with these strong organizations and programs, Accenture hopes to help Canadians from coast to coast develop their skills and find new careers,” said Michael Denham, president and country managing director, Accenture.  “We share the commitment of these organizations to making a significant, lasting impact on the long-term economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities around the world.”

 

The charities were selected following an official call for proposals to all Accenture employees in Canada.  A panel of Accenture’s corporate citizenship team in Canada then decided to fund programs that include:

 

• United Way (Ottawa) – assisting the Minwaashin Lodge’s Employment Readiness Program in efforts to help Aboriginal women find meaningful work and/or training to participate in the job market.
• The Salvation Army’s Harbour Light ministry (Vancouver) – training disadvantaged people in Vancouver’s downtown eastside community, using technology programs to start businesses or find jobs.
• Mixed Company (Toronto) – training at-risk young adults from diverse backgrounds and cultures in skills development, so they can gain employment and explore opportunities to develop their own creative ventures.
• Centre for Addiction & Mental Health Foundation (Toronto) – supporting Employment Works!, a program that helps people with a history of mental health issues and/or addiction to successfully return to the workforce.
• Hull Child and Family Services (Calgary) – partnering with organizations to assist young people, adults and families of people with significant developmental and behavioral challenges learn new skills to achieve success in their lives.
• Green Skills Network (Niagara) – mentoring and providing skills training to young adults, so they understand pathways to careers in the renewable energy field.
• Le Refuge des Jeunes de Montréal (Quebec) – developing a program to help disadvantaged young men in Quebec start a business or secure meaningful work.

 

Grants will also be given to Free The Children, The Canadian Centre for Diversity, Ability Online, ACCES Employment and Alberta Ecotrust.

 

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 249,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  Through its Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship focus, Accenture is committed to equipping 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

# # #

As Low Rates Depress Savers, Governments Reap the Benefits

The following is an excerpt from an article in:

The New York Times
Tuesday, September 11, 2012

As Low Rates Depress Savers, Governments Reap the Benefits

By CATHERINE RAMPELL

A consumer complaint is ricocheting around the world: low interest rates are eating away at savings.
Bill Taren, a retiree near Orlando, Fla., discovered in August that his credit union would pay only 0.4 percent annual interest on his saving account, even though inflation averaged 2.8 percent over the last year. So he and his wife decided to just stuff their money in the mattress, he says, because at least there “we can see the cash when we want.”

Jeanne and André Bussière, in Annecy, France, have a stable pension and a bank account that pays 2 percent interest — “almost nothing,” they say — even though the consumer price index rose an average of 2.5 percent over the last year.

Jiang Rong, an information technology professional in Xiamen, China, decided to dive back into the speculative real estate market rather than watch his savings wither at the bank. In China, too, the cost of living is outrunning savings, as local restaurants nearly double their prices.

The fact that interest yields are so low in so many parts of the world is no coincidence. Rates are determined not only by markets, but also by government policy. And right now many governments say they have good reason to keep their own borrowing costs as low as they possibly can. Just last week, the government’s report on job growth in the United States showed continued weakness, and an international forecasting group warned that the European economic powerhouse, Germany, will fall into recession later this year.

Though bad for people trying to live off their savings, low interest rates happen to be quite good for anyone borrowing money, like governments themselves. Over time, interest rates below the inflation rate allow governments to refinance, erode or liquidate their debt, making it easier to live within their budgets without having to resort to more unpalatable spending cuts or tax increases.

Along with keeping rates low, governments are using a variety of tactics to encourage captive audiences, like pension funds and banks, to buy their debt. Consumers, in other words, are subtly subsidizing governments without even knowing it. Economists have compared this phenomenon to a hidden tax on people’s wealth.

“If you ask a central banker is that what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it, they’ll say ‘No, we’re just trying to get the economy going by making it easier for the private sector to borrow,’ ” said Neal Soss, chief economist at Credit Suisse. “But I have a syllogism for you: The government makes the rules. The government needs the money. So why should it surprise if the rules encourage you to lend the government money?”

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Accenture Ranked as Top IT Services Vendor in Life Science Industry By Independent Research Firm

Note to visitors: We have moved!  For current news and information, please visit our successor blogs:  http://JBK-BizTech.blogspot.com and http://JBK-Current-Events.blogspot.com.  Thank you.


Accenture Ranked as Top IT Services Vendor in Life Science Industry By Independent Research Firm; Second Year in a Row

 Related Assets

March 29, 2012

Accenture Ranked as Top IT Services Vendor in Life Science Industry

By Independent Research Firm; Second Year in a Row

NEW YORK; Mar. 29, 2012 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has been ranked as the number one life science information technology (IT) services vendor in a survey conducted by IDC Health Insights. This is the second year in a row that Accenture has received this ranking.

The ranking was contained in a February 2012 report titled, “Perspective: IDC Health Insights' Top Preferred Life Science Technology Vendors for 2012” which documents results from IDC Health Insights’ Leading Indicators in Life Science IT Spending Survey.”¹ The IDC Health Insights survey indicates that respondents expect to contract Accenture during the next 12 months for IT services. Click here for a link to the report.

Anne O’Riordan, global managing director of Accenture’s Life Sciences practice, said, “For the second consecutive year, Accenture is honored to receive this recognition by IDC Health Insights. This designation further highlights Accenture’s ability to provide the life sciences industry with the best IT services solutions to gain better business insight, deliver better business outcomes and create greater value.”

The IDC Health Insights report is a biannual IT budget-tracking survey of several hundred life science companies. The survey, which polled 115 industry leaders on planned IT budgetary spend, technology priorities and vendor preference, asked participants to identify which vendors servicing the life science market they expect to spend money with on software, hardware, and IT services over the next 12 months.

[1] IDC Health Insights: “Perspective: IDC Health Insights' Top Preferred Life Science Technology Vendors for 2012,” Document # HI233255, February 2012, Eric Newmark.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 246,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is accenture.com.

# # #