Accenture CEO on 11,000 job cuts: ‘Some roles can’t be reskilled for AI’

Accenture has laid off more than 11,000 employees worldwide in the past three months, as the consulting giant accelerates its restructuring to become an AI-first company.

CEO Julie Sweet confirmed during the company’s latest earnings call that certain roles were being eliminated because retraining was not feasible.

“We are exiting on a compressed timeline, people, where reskilling, based on our experience, is not a viable path for the skills we need,” she told analysts.

The job cuts bring Accenture’s global workforce down to 779,000 at the end of August, compared with 791,000 just three months earlier.

The layoffs, which began earlier this year, are expected to continue through November 2025. The restructuring — including severance costs — is projected to generate more than $1 billion in savings.

At the same time, Accenture is expanding its AI talent base. The company said it has doubled its AI and data specialists to 77,000 since 2023 and trained over 550,000 employees in generative AI.

CFO Angie Park described this phase as “rapid talent rotation,” stressing that savings from workforce reductions will be reinvested in employees and business growth.

Accenture reported revenues of $17.6 billion for the June–August quarter of fiscal 2025, up 7% year-on-year and above analyst expectations.

Sweet said the results highlight Accenture’s “unique ability to deliver for clients as they seek our help to reinvent and lead with AI.”

The move reflects a broader industry trend, with tech majors like Microsoft and Meta also phasing out traditional roles while expanding AI teams. For many employees, the lesson is stark: future career paths will depend on adaptability to AI-driven skills.