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I'm not sure if the culture changed, but when I worked for a firm it was generally known that if you sit on the bench to long you'll be let go.

However, This is likely in correlation to general reduced spending across the board causing reducing spending with firms. With all the cost cutting, most high cost consulting/outsourcing is the first on the chopping block.

This makes sense, if one is a cost and doesn't have the opportunity to contribute I can't see how they could afford to keep those people.

By charging 3000 bucks for changing the color of a scroll bar on a website (that’s a real quote)

Seems logical to me, how are they supposed to pay salaries if not through billing clients?

Maybe, but by all accounts I have heard that there are a lot of people on the bench at Accenture. People are fighting to get staffed on projects.

Consulting firms are great when the economy is good and executives don't mind throwing money around. When budgets get scrutinized, those contracts get downsized or not renewed at all.