Accenture's CEO, Julie Sweet, has announced that the company will let go of employees who can't be trained for roles related to AI. This decision comes after the company laid off more than 11,000 workers globally. Sweet said the company is quickly removing people for whom retraining isn't a good path to the skills needed for AI-focused work. The goal is to match the workforce with the needs of AI-driven operations.
Accenture has also announced a $865 million restructuring plan and expects its revenue to drop by 2 to 5% in the next financial year.
This is due to less demand from businesses and lower spending by the U.S. government. The company spent $615 million on severance and other restructuring costs last quarter, with another $250 million expected this quarter.
Even with these layoffs, Accenture's annual revenue increased by 7% to $69.7 billion, and profits were $7.83 billion.
The company has also seen a rise in funding for AI projects, with $5.1 billion allocated this year, up from $3 billion the previous year. Now, 77,000 employees have skills in AI or data, compared to 40,000 two years ago. Sweet said the company plans to increase headcount again next year, and retraining will remain its main focus.
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