Accenture makes AI a core part of its strategy and expects employees to retrain en masse. Employees who don’t want to do this will be fired.
Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said on Thursday in The Financial Times that AI “is becoming part of everything we do” and that those who cannot retrain in the short term must leave. “We are investing in AI training for more than 700,000 employees.”
Large-scale Retraining and Cost Savings
The consulting company has already trained 550,000 employees in the basics of generative AI. At the same time, it is launching an optimization program of $865 million, including costs for severance packages. CFO Angie Park expects more than a billion dollars in savings, which will be partially reinvested in personnel and growth.
Other companies have also seen many layoffs due to AI. Salesforce and Workday also downsized this year. Klarna has stopped hiring new employees thanks to AI. HP has also cut 2,000 jobs this year due to cost savings.
Growth despite Layoffs
Despite the restructuring, Accenture continues to hire: the number of AI and data professionals will increase to 77,000 in 2025, compared to 40,000 in 2023. The company reported revenue of $69.7 billion, seven percent more than last year, driven by strong demand for AI projects.
“Our early investment in AI is paying off,” Sweet said. “Every CEO and board knows that advanced AI is crucial. The challenge is that most companies aren’t ready for it yet.”