Global consulting giant Accenture has laid off over 11,000 employees worldwide in the past three months. The company attributed the layoffs to the rapid adoption of AI and a slowdown in corporate demand. Accenture also confirmed that these job cuts are part of an $865 million restructuring program and cautioned that further reductions may occur in the coming months.
Accenture CEO Julie Sweet told analysts that the company is “exiting people on a compressed timeline where reskilling is not a viable option for the skills we need.” She added that Accenture will rapidly realign its workforce to meet client demand for AI-driven solutions. This suggests that Accenture may have let go of additional employees who could not be retained during this transition.
By the end of August, Accenture’s global workforce had decreased to 779,000, down from 791,000 three months prior. The layoffs, which began earlier this year, are expected to continue through November 2025.
The restructuring primarily covers severance costs and is projected to save the company more than $1 billion.
Alongside job cuts, Accenture is investing in upskilling by training its employees in agentic artificial intelligence, a new generation of AI tools designed to automate complex tasks. CEO Julie Sweet emphasised that this training is crucial to meeting client expectations as businesses worldwide accelerate their AI-driven operational transformations.
Despite the layoffs, Accenture reported a 7% year-over-year revenue increase to $17.6 billion in the June-August quarter of fiscal 2025, surpassing estimates. Sweet highlighted that these results showcase Accenture’s “unique ability to deliver for clients as they seek our help to reinvent and lead with AI.”
