2023 Q3 – Challenging Swedish and Finnish consulting market

The challenges persist in the consulting industry, but it is a diversified market, and many companies have already adapted to the new market conditions. IT, once the driving force, is now facing significantly more challenges, as are the real estate and e-commerce sectors. Consulting broker Ework reports that the number of requests decreased by 21 percent compared to last year.

In certain parts of public administration, there has also been lower demand, with 26 percent fewer requests compared to last year. Still, some sectors, such as energy, industry, and cybersecurity/defense, continue to perform very strongly.

The median growth stood at 6.4 percent, which is only one-third compared to a year ago (19.9 percent). The number of acquisitions has also significantly declined, with a 30 percent decrease over the year. Gofore showed the highest growth figures through strong organic growth and acquisition. CombinedX has also an impressive growth. Similarly, Addnode, which acquired larger companies, and defense-focused Combitech demonstrated substantial growth.

In terms of margins, six out of ten consulting companies have lower margins. However, the quarter is impacted by one less working day than last year. Only two companies are operating at a loss, and many have cut costs. Softronic has the highest margin among the companies, along with Prevas and Avensia, which, despite exposure to e-commerce, have quickly been able to adapt their costs.

Even though some cuts have been made in consulting firms, and the pace of recruitment has slowed down, most companies have increased the number of employees during the quarter. Since the beginning of the year, a third of the companies have fewer employees. Addnode, Precio Fishbone, Gofore, and CombinedX have shown the fastest growth in terms of personnel during the quarter.