Storm on Macronie in the middle of the presidential campaign. The government was singled out by a Senate report dated March 16 on the use of private consulting firms. In the eye of the storm, the McKinsey firm is notably accused by the opposition of having cost the State very dearly and of not paying its taxes in France.
This extensive report, 385 pages, includes a lot of information. So as not to inflict this (dense) reading on you, 20 minutes summarized the use of consulting firms in France in five graphs.
Are consulting firms increasingly used?
Between 2018 and 2021, expenditure related to external advice requested by all ministries was multiplied by 2.36, with a strong acceleration in 2021 (+ 45%). Two types of consulting stand out in particular: strategy and organization consulting, which has multiplied by 3.7 since 2018, and information systems strategy consulting, which has multiplied by 5.8.
Which departments spend the most on private consulting?
Nearly 85% of expenditure is concentrated in 5 ministries: Interior, Economy and Finance, Armed Forces, Ecological Transition, Solidarity and Health. The latter, who notably evokes the coronavirus crisis to explain the increase in his expenses with private consulting firms, is far from being the most “greedy” ministry in this area.
Is McKinsey the consulting firm most requested by the government?
2,070 consulting firms were contacted by the authorities between 2018 and 2020, including 20 which represent 55% of the market. If McKinsey is indeed part of this “top 20” of the actors most used by the French government, it represents only 1% of expenditure, and is not the most used agency.
Does France rely more on outside firms than its neighbours?
The use of consulting firms is far from being a French fad. Proof of this is with Germany or the United Kingdom. The Senate notes in its report that “compared to other European countries, advice to the public sector appears historically limited in France”.