Alfred Harl, Chairman of the Austrian Association of Management Consulting, Accounting and IT (UBIT) of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and former Vice-President of the European Federation of Management Consultancies Associations (FEACO), was unanimously elected as the new President of the European Consulting Association in mid-March.
He succeeds the previous President Matthias Loebich (BDU, Germany), who will take over the function of Honorary President with immediate effect. In addition to Harl, the board includes FEACO Vice Presidents Manuel Giralt Herrero (AEC, Spain), Peter Csakvari (VTMSZ, Hungary) and Ezio Lattanzio (Assoconsult, Italy). FEACO has been in existence since the 1960s and today has 15 member associations.
Harl focuses on the "development of strategies to combat the shortage of skilled workers", women's enthusiasm for digitization with the "Women in ICT" project and "networking and strengthening the industry within Europe". The new FEACO President Alfred Harl comments: "Management consultants are important drivers for the Austrian and European economy. Especially in times of digital transformation and a shortage of skilled workers, the innovative strength of the consulting industry is crucial for international success."
Europe: Sales growth and employment at around 7 percent
This is also shown by the results of the annual "European Management Consultancy" survey of 11 European member countries, most recently for 2022/2023: In 2022, the European management consulting industry achieved its highest annual growth of +16% with an estimated total sales volume of around 131 billion euros. For 2024, slower revenue growth of 7 percent is forecast given the current international challenges in the management consulting industry, but job growth has held steady at 7 percent over the past year. Harl comments:. "We can clearly see that the expertise of management consultants continues to be in enormous demand. Continued investment in consulting is an important factor for competitiveness in all sectors of the economy and strengthens the innovative strength of European companies."
