New Delhi, September 26 – Accenture, an IT consulting behemoth, has terminated more than 11,000 employees in the last three months, ramping up its shift to artificial intelligence (AI). The company stated that the layoffs are part of a restructuring aimed at saving $865 million and that it may continue to reduce headcount, in additional waves, until November 2025.
What about the layoffs?
Accenture stated that many jobs were eliminated because they could not be reskilled quickly enough to support the new business needs. “We’re trying to—in a very compressed timeline where we don’t have a viable path for skilling—sort of exiting people, so we can get more of the skills we need,” CEO Julie Sweet told analysts over a call.
“We are existing on a compressed timeline, people, where reskilling, based on our experience, is not a viable path for the skills we need,” Sweets said.
The company also stated that the restructuring is mostly severance costs, and is expected to save more than $1 billion in the next six months.
Focus on AI
The consulting firm is investing significantly in agentic artificial intelligence, a more sophisticated type of AI. It has also started teaching its employees the basics of AI, anticipating the types of new work they will be doing with clients.
At the end of August, Accenture had 779,000 employees worldwide, down from 791,000 in May.
Financial performance
While there have been job cuts, Accenture reported revenue growth of 7% in the June-August quarter to $17.6 billion. The company is in a September-August fiscal year.
Sweet said “I am very pleased with our 7 per cent growth in fiscal 2025, demonstrating our unique ability to deliver for our clients as they seek our help to reinvent and lead with AI. As clients continue to embrace reinvention to create value and drive financial results and business outcomes, they need help to build their digital core, prepare data and reimagine processes, all while training their people to work in entirely new ways,”.
What are we seeing apart from layoffs?
Accenture previously announced that layoffs will continue until November 2025. This clearly indicates the pace with which AI is altering the IT landscape, as companies focus more on digital and AI skills and take cutbacks on roles that can’t adapt.
