Accenture initiated six-month business optimization program in Q4

The company expects to increase its overall number of employees in FY26 across its markets, including in the US and countries in Europe, reflecting the demand it sees in its business. In addition to continuing to hire, the company is implementing a refreshed three-pronged talent strategy to meet current and future client demand: including investing in upskilling people, which is its primary focus; exiting people in a compressed timeline where reskilling is not a viable path for the skills it needs; and identifying areas to drive even more operating efficiencies in its business, including through AI. In Q4 FY25, the company initiated a six-month business optimization program and recorded a charge of $615 million. The company also expects to record approximately $250 million in Q1 FY26 for a total of approximately $865 million over the six-month period. This reflects severance costs associated with this talent strategy, as well as the impairment of assets, primarily related to the divestiture of two acquisitions that are no longer aligned with the company’s strategic priorities. These actions will result in cost savings, which will be reinvested in its people and business.