Management consultancy and IT services provider Accenture is planning to hire 45,000 employees around the globe in the coming year, equivalent to roughly 25% of its current headcount.

The announcement accompanied the company’s most recent financial results. During the three months ending November 30 2009, revenues fell by 11% year-on-year to $5.4 billion. Net income fell by 12% to $525 million.

However, the company said that new bookings – which totaled $5.53 billion – were the highest in four quarters.

By value, the majority of new bookings were in the consultancy practice, which has been particularly hard hit in the downturn. This would suggest that businesses are beginning to plan large projects, having deferred any significant investments during the past 12 months.

The company did not specify where precisely the new hires would take place, although on a conference call for investment analysts, chief financial officer Pamela Craig said that a “substantial portion” would be for its ‘global delivery network’ (i.e. offshore outsourcing centres).