US Consulting Giant Implements Skill-Based Elimination: Employees Unable to Adapt to AI Transition Will Be Phased Out

Executives at international consulting giant Accenture have hinted that the company plans to lay off employees who cannot acquire artificial intelligence (AI) skills as part of a broad restructuring strategy.

During a conference call on Thursday (September 25), Accenture CEO Julie Sweet stated that as advanced AI "becomes part of everything we do," the company will continue to make significant investments in this area.

Simultaneously, Sweet mentioned that Accenture expects its employees to undergo "large-scale retraining and skill transformation. We are investing in upskilling and reskilling our employees, which is a key part of our strategy."

In other words, Accenture will accelerate the process of phasing out employees who cannot complete retraining. Unlike traditional layoffs, which may be drawn out, the company will make decisions and execute cuts more quickly to free up human resources and budget sooner.

Sweet noted that Accenture has already provided 550,000 employees with training in the fundamentals of generative AI and announced a six-month, $865 million business optimization plan that details costs related to severance and staff reductions.

"Our early investments in AI are indeed paying off, and we are very confident entering fiscal year 2026 because the business momentum we are seeing is precisely driven by Accenture's role as a partner helping clients utilize advanced AI."