IT firm Accenture cuts over 11,000 jobs in three months; Warns of more layoffs amid AI push
New Delhi: Global IT consulting firm Accenture has laid off more than 11,000 employees over the past three months and has warned of further job cuts, citing the accelerating impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on its operations.
The Dublin-based firm unveiled details of an $865 million (around Rs 7,669 crore) restructuring programme, warning analysts that if staff cannot be retrained fast enough, further reductions will be inevitable, as reported by India Today on Sunday.
The company’s leadership, led by chief executive Julie Sweet, has reportedly made it clear that reskilling remains the preferred option, but not all employees will make the cut.
“We are moving on a compressed timeline,” Sweet told investors on a call. “Where reskilling simply isn’t a viable path, we are making the difficult choice to exit people," she said, as per the reports.
By the end of August, Accenture’s global workforce had fallen to 7,79,000, down from 7,91,000 just three months earlier. It was reported that severance and related expenses accounted for $615 million in the last quarter, with an additional $250 million anticipated in the current quarter.
Despite the cuts, Accenture maintained that it would continue to expand operating profit margins at its historic annual rate of at least 10 basis points in the next fiscal year.
While trimming its human workforce, Accenture is simultaneously ramping up investment in generative AI. In the recently closed financial year, AI-related projects accounted for $5.1 billion in new bookings, a significant increase from $3 billion the previous year.
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Five railway staffers injured as van headed to Rajdhani Express fire site overturns in MP
Ratlam (MP) (PTI): Five railway staffers were injured, one of them critically, when their van carrying repair equipment to the site of a Rajdhani Express fire overturned in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district on Sunday, officials said.
The blaze erupted in an AC coach of the Delhi-bound Thiruvananthapuram-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express between Vikramgarh Alot and Lunirichha stations under the Kota division of the railways in Ratlam at 5.15 am.
It disrupted the movement of several trains on the Mumbai-Delhi route, as per the officials.
A van carrying necessary equipment to Alot overturned on the way when a cow suddenly strayed into the middle of the road, they said.
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Five railwaymen were injured, one of them critically, the officials said.
The incident took place when the van carrying essential equipment for overhead electric line repair, among other things, was on its way to Alot from Shyamnagar in Ratlam, West Central Railway's chief public relations officer Harshit Shrivastava told PTI.
The injured persons were rushed to the hospital and were subsequently referred to Kota in Rajasthan, officials said.
No casualties were reported in the train fire.
