#restructuring

WHY PAST TRENDS POINT TO ACCENTURE LAYOFFS IN 2025

SEPTEMBER 05, 2025

Speculation around Accenture layoffs in 2025 is rising, as CEO statements, financial reports, and past workforce reductions point toward potential job cuts. Industry analysts warn layoffs at Accenture could mirror the consulting giant’s 2023 cuts, with AI adoption and efficiency drives driving massive workforce changes.

As the tech industry grapples with persistent economic headwinds, speculation is mounting over possible layoffs at Accenture. Rumors of Accenture layoffs are slowly gaining traction, particularly in light of recent statements made by its CEO Julie Sweet. Experts have raised questions about whether the consulting giant could once again trim its ranks.

A SORDID HISTORY OF LAYOFFS AT ACCENTURE

Accenture, which employs more than 770,000 people worldwide, has never been immune to the global volatility. In March 2023, Accenture layoffs led to 19,000 job cuts. It amounts to roughly 2.5% of its global workforce. The move was meant to drive cost-saving as well as reduce office space.

At the time, Julie Sweet described Accenture layoffs as an “offensive” strategy to strengthen the company’s resilience despite strong bookings and healthy utilization rates. The job cuts at Accenture were also linked to wage inflation, economic uncertainty and a massive shift towards larger-scale transformation projects.

CEO JULIE SWEET SIGNALS ‘REWIRING’

Earlier this month, Sweet unveiled what she called a reversal of “five decades of how we’re working,” shifting siloed business units into a more integrated models designed for AI-driven client services. In a video message to staff, she agreed the restructure has “inevitably uncovered efficiencies and duplications”. This phrasing suggests that layoffs at Accenture are underway.

Although Sweet has avoided explicitly framing the shake-up as a cost-cutting measure, her comments echo those made ahead of the 2023 layoffs at Accenture. In the past, she cited “structural issues” as a justification for job cuts. Industry experts note that her repeated emphasis on “rewiring” Accenture to seize AI opportunities carries clear implications for the company’s workforce.

A STEADY HEADCOUNT DECLINE
Accenture reported $64.9 billion in revenue for fiscal 2024. What lies behind this figure is signs of strain. Workforce intelligence trackers suggest headcount at has fallen by nearly 14,000 over the past year, with consulting reducing in 10 of the last 11 months. Analysts describe this as a form of “stealth layoffs” that avoid large-scale announcements.

The appointment of a new CHRO at Accenture has further fueled speculation. In large companies, HR leadership changes often precede restructures and layoffs. Furthermore, industry chatter places Accenture alongside peers such as AWS and Microsoft, where AI adoption is linked to layoffs.

For now, Accenture has not confirmed any layoffs in 2025. But as the company prepares to report Q4 results later this year, employees and investors will be watching closely for signs of layoffs. If past patterns hold, a formal announcement of layoffs at Accenture could follow soon.

What’s your take on Julie Sweet’s bold moves at Accenture? Will layoffs and a culture shake-up spark a turnaround, or is it a gamble too far? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and subscribe to HR Digest for the latest on leadership shifts, workforce trends, and how they’re reshaping the C-suite. Don’t miss our next deep dive, sign up now!

https://www.thehrdigest.com/why-past-trends-point-to-accenture-layoffs-in-2025/

The founders of EJ (including Ted himself) knew this and used that understanding to build a virtuous cycle of success that became Edward Jones. Trust built commitment, commitment fostered ownership, ownership supported loyalty, loyalty fueled business results…and so on…

At the hands of the abhorrent leadership in place today, EJ is now fully in the throughs of a vicious cycle. To be clear, enterprise reimagined is a symptom of a disease that started when Penny (who has to be among the worst judges of talent) appointed leaders to her exec team who were entirely incompetent to lead the firm forward in a new competitive landscape. Some were homegrown incompetents who Penny was foolishly loyal to (eg Cella, Dolan), others like Chubak were opportunists who actually have sophisticated firm experience but weren’t on the c-suite track in their former companies, usually due to leadership flaws or excessive levels of ego/self interest.

As the firm began to lose market share in core midwestern strongholds, those leaders in turn appointed other weak GPs (with preference to good “order takers” who wouldn’t provide constructive challenge to their insecure superiors). This had the effect of further shielding the realities of the day to day field/HO experience from senior leadership.

While GP returns grew largely due to cost cutting, underlying business performance (net new assets, new clients, FA retention) deteriorated. Leaders who have no track record of successful business transformation responded by pushing change even faster, eroding trust and confidence. Field turnover spiked, more panic set in, assets slowed further…and a vicious cycle had begun by 2022/23.

Enterprise reimagine is hatched in 2024 by the same leaders to mask their own failures, secure GP earnings and further consolidate “control” which these leaders felt they had lost. Similar to other changes, this was slapped together “loose and fast” by ELT members who have never led a restructuring and informed by 30 something consultants who can see the vicious cycle with dollar signs dancing in their heads.

Trust, confidence and loyalty is now even further eroded, effectively destroying the foundation culture Ted established the firm on. Tenured and some newer EJ leaders who challenged the path that brought us here were shown the door.

The culture that was the root of the firm’s virtuous cycle is now gone, the victim of bad leadership starting at the top. Replacing it is a vicious cycle that will now be nearly impossible to break without a sea change of leadership at the top - and an enormous rebuilding effort.

Clients, Associates and Partners, you deserve so much better.

Seems like alot of posting on Linked in " look at me, look at us meetings" getting various groups to travel somewhere to discuss "strategies" and fun on the company dime. I also see awards from little known companies that say Lumen is great at this or that. Is anyone really working on fixing the back office **show of legacy system, or is this all fluff to make the company look better to sell off the parts?

We want to catch up on our former newsletter where we reported on an Executive Board decision regarding a recurring workforce transformation.

On August 5th and September 1st, 2025, the SE Works Council (Europe) was informed about urgent measures which impact all board areas under the codename “Project Mongoose” in an extraordinary consultation. This project is the implementation of the announcement by Dominik Asam and Christian Klein during the past Q2 Earnings Call, which can be summarized by the headlines of 1-2% reduction of SAP’s global workforce.

The SE Works Council (Europe) expresses its deep concern over the decision to proceed with another wave of redundancies in 2025, marking the second such initiative this year following P24 (“Project 24”) Wave 3. Despite reassurances to the contrary by the Executive Board earlier this year, this development underscores a continued pattern of workforce changes without adequate time to assess the prior transformations. This raises the question: What problems may lie beneath SAP’s Half Year financial figures that have forced the Executive Board to resort to such urgent measures?

While the rationale for Project Mongoose has been framed and presented in terms of adapting to technological change – particularly referencing the effects of AI and location strategy – the actual measures appear to us better aligned with short-term financial targets rather than strategic transformation, wrapped in “lean adjustment” terminology. This paradox between reasoning and actions risks undermining employee trust.

The lack of clarity around projected cost savings, customer impact, AI-related redesign, and location strategy further exacerbates our concerns. We fear these decisions may lead to long-term harm – both talent loss and diminished customer trust. The current lack of transparent and straightforward communication creates uncertainty, which reduces organizational efficiency and erodes confidence in the Executive Board.

The SE Works Council (Europe) urged management to present the reasons for the job cuts in more detail and depth, commit to meaningful reskilling initiatives, and avoid reducing strategic workforce decisions to routine cost-cutting exercises, as to us the current Executive Board decision does not seem to be connected to a discernible logic. Following Project Mongoose and P24, we are worried that SAP and the Executive Board might adopt this practice as another adjustment tool that may be used freely whenever financial targets suggest it.

We remain committed to monitoring the execution process, both from the SE Works Council (Europe) perspective and through the local Employee Representations of the impacted countries. During the consultation process, we have been assured that all impacted employees are treated with respect and dignity and within the legal guarantees of the respective countries. Also, at the end of this consultation, we will keep advocating for a long-term vision that values the expertise and dedication of our workforce. We will come back with more information on this topic in due time.

As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions and look forward to your feedback.

Hundreds of Air Wisconsin workers face potential layoffs as part of possible sale

PSA Airlines announces layoffs as Dayton headquarters move to North Carolina

https://www.nbc26.com/appleton/hundreds-of-air-wisconsin-workers-face-potential-layoffs-as-part-of-possible-sale

https://www.wyso.org/news/2025-09-04/psa-airlines-announces-layoffs-as-dayton-headquarters-mov

If you had no promotions in the last 3-4 yeas, then this year will be a good bye year for you, this is applicable mostly from the Manager levels, that will be one of the criteria to measure your performance.

Restructuring will blow away many delivery managers, VPS and leadership level that are just busy on internal meetings will be the other area of nailing down

4th quarter will be a painful period for many many..............

( One of my close friend at leadership level at Texas that had 27 years of experience told me the above points a month ago and quit just last Friday and that time I didn't believed him and thought he is a stupid, but now I see how wise he is)

Whether it is Restructuring across 120 countries or Layoffs Bell across the globe?

Close to 7 thousands to 12.2K will get a return label to send their Laptop back to their HQ

US will be the most hit (Close to 4K) due to recent tarrifs and Immigration policies, whether you are on H1 or GC or any visa other than US citizen better to pack off

The restructuring wont affect ONLY one person that is none other than CEO

Heard unverified rumors about a planned shutdown of (some of?) the chemicals units at Fawley and Antwerp. Anybody has insight on this?

In a shock announcement, Essendant has said it is pulling out of the independent office products dealer channel.

In regards to layoffs or anything else that may or may not happen, nothing that CVS does at this point will surprise me. Sadly this is how CVS operates. Think of how many restructurings CVS has been through over the last several years. I'm guessing more than any other company in America. So hey, what's another restructuring? Or what's a few more layoffs? Frankly to the executives, these things are nothing, because they're not affected by them. So to everyone here, just remember this is CVS, so anything is possible. Because again this is exactly how they operate. Always looking for short-term savings, and never looking at long-term down the road.

Well said, @tn+1k35bcf17.

"Today was my last day at Red Hat.

I won't tease you with fake suspense, the whole runtime and middleware division from Red Hat is moving to IBM, and this week is my turn. So on Monday I'll be back at IBM."

https://x.com/MickaelMaison/status/1961518724433027301

Next VSP or large scale restructuring is imminent. Hearing chatter around 2Q/3Q 2026. Makes sense with Frontier acquisition closing but too close to past 2024. So may not be a VSP and just restructuring 🤔

With Elliott $4bn stake in PepsiCo. They're coming with changes.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elliott-management-plans-activist-campaign-113341334.html

Their history....

Elliott takes activist stakes in companies to push for operational improvements, board changes, and other measures to boost shareholder value. Recent and ongoing campaigns include:

PepsiCo ($4 billion stake): Revealed on September 2, 2025, this is reportedly Elliott's largest equity position ever. The firm is advocating for changes to address stagnant share prices and slow growth in PepsiCo's food and beverage segments.

Medtronic: In August 2025, Medtronic added two new board members following a period of underperformance, partially influenced by Elliott's involvement.

Phillips 66: After building a multi-billion-dollar stake, Elliott successfully pushed for changes at the energy refiner in 2024. In February 2025, the fund reportedly increased its stake and is seeking further changes, including a potential spin-off of the midstream business.

Honeywell: In late 2024, Elliott took a stake of over $5 billion and called for the conglomerate to break up, a move it later announced. Elliott subsequently gained a seat on the company's board.

Starbucks: In 2024, Elliott took a large stake in the coffee company and played a role in the ouster of its CEO amid slumping sales.

Equinix: Yahoo Finance reported in July 2025 that Elliott had increased its stake in the digital infrastructure company

So what was the fall out on the Atleos side of things?

Even as UPS continues to navigate a challenging economic environment, it continues to demonstrate strategic leadership. In its first-quarter earnings report, UPS announced a reduction in its workforce of 20,000 in addition to the closure of 73 buildings. In return, this will save the company $3.5 billion, allowing UPS to come out on top of a shifting economy and competitive industry.

https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/09/02/noakes-sell-the-u-s-postal-service-to-ups/

These layoffs are consistent with Oracle's business model. That is to say:

1. Acquire technology/companies
2. Titrate down all investment in that product's innovation, engineering/dev, support
3. Milk the support stream (possible since the customers are now "over the Oracle barrel")
4. Discard the dessicated corpse.
5. Rinse, repeat

Given this model there is no such thing as too many reductions.

Questions?

Much of marketing team including CMO and entire customer research team was laid off last week. They also folded three BUs into one BU and rumors has it that Directors with less than 3 directs will become Sr. Managers at lower pay. Lots of redunant roles so expect further layoffs to be announced soon.

That’s what the rumors are pointing to, maybe for some of us. It’s really hard to make sense of what’s going on. This “restructuring” doesn’t feel structured at all from where we sit as regular employees. A bit of clear communication would go a long way right now.

It’s hard not to worry. Every time there’s a reorg, it feels like employees are the ones who pay the price. I really hope this doesn’t go further, but honestly, I’m not sure what to expect anymore.

Trinity Rail‑Trinity Tank Car – Longview TX – Manufacturing staff – The Jordan Valley facility in Longview will close, resulting in 170 layoffs effective September 30, as announced via WARN, as part of restructuring across two freight facilities

https://www.chron.com/business/article/trinity-tank-car-longview-lay-off-170-employees-20798529.php

Crystal Dynamics - Redwood City CA (studio) - Development/studio staff - The Tomb Raider developer conducted a second round of layoffs this year due to shifting business conditions; exact numbers were not disclosed, but the studio emphasized support for impacted staff.

https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/tomb-raider-dev-crystal-dynamics-hit-by-layoffs-for-second-time-this-year-and-im-sick-of-writing-this-headline

Departments Cut: Assembly technicians, manufacturing leadership, trainers, material handlers

Up to 331 jobs will be eliminated by the end of October due to cutting graveyard and weekend production shifts, with the company encouraging internal redeployment.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/intuitive-surgical-robot-maker-layoffs-sunnyvale-21016652.php

Exelixis

• Alameda CA (remote staff in PA)
• Departments affected: Scientific staff, vice presidents, clinical operations
• Exelixis is laying off 130 employees (about 11 % of its workforce) including closure of its Pennsylvania office as it consolidates operations in Alameda and refocuses on its next dr-g candidate despite remaining profitable...

  https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/bay-area-biotech-company-worth-10-billion-layoff-21020576.php

Verily (Alphabet’s life sciences subsidiary)

• Medical device program, related teams
• Verily is shutting down its entire medical device program, resulting in layoffs and a broader strategic structure change. The CEO acknowledged the difficulty and praised the Devices team’s long-standing contributions.
• (Headquartered in South San Francisco, CA; layoffs possibly across facilities)

• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/googles-life-sciences-sister-company-verily-announces-layoffs-cuts-devices-program-read-memo/articleshow/123539907.cms

• Verily (second report round)

• Various departments reorganizing
• A second wave of layoffs at Verily is underway as the company further realigns priorities and supports affected employees. The CEO expressed appreciation for departing staff and reaffirmed the strategic realignment.
• (South San Francisco, CA region)
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/googles-moonshot-division-verily-to-cut-jobs-what-ceo-stephen-gillett-told-laid-off-employees-in-memo/articleshow/123580591.cms

Company is offering ESRO then relocations in D9. Should all be in the books by the end of September.

Google AI: Medtronic Org structure is very deep, not flat. Will EM involvement drive middle or senior level of management layoff?

AI answer:

Involving activist investor Elliott Management (EM) at Medtronic is likely to drive layoffs at both the middle and senior management levels. While middle management is most vulnerable, senior management is also at risk due to a culture of long tenure and deep hierarchies.

-- Layoff risk for middle management
Middle management is most likely to be targeted in a push for a flatter, more efficient corporate structure.
Elliott's history: Elliott has a well-documented history of pushing for aggressive cost-cutting and workforce reductions at companies like Southwest Airlines and AT&T.
Operational inefficiencies: Medtronic has a deep, bureaucratic hierarchy with "excessive bureaucracy" noted in employee reviews. The newly formed Operating Committee, influenced by Elliott, is tasked with improving cost discipline and efficiency, which often means streamlining the organizational chart and reducing redundant management layers.
Redundant roles: Restructuring often involves pushing accountability down to the operating units, as CEO Geoff Martha has previously attempted. This makes layers of middle management that are not directly tied to revenue generation more vulnerable to elimination.

-- Layoff risk for senior management
While less common, senior management is not immune to restructurings influenced by activist investors.

Challenging the status quo: Elliott's approach challenges the "entrenchment of long-tenured executives" that can characterize large, stable companies like Medtronic. Elliott can advocate for leadership changes and board reshuffles, including CEO replacements.
Holding leaders accountable: The new board committees will hold senior leaders more accountable for the performance of their portfolios. The potential for divestitures and strategic shifts driven by Elliott puts the leaders of underperforming or non-core business units at a higher risk of being replaced.

Reshuffling and departures: The creation of new board committees and the shifting strategy often cause high-profile executives to depart, as seen in the recent exit of Medtronic CFO Karen Parkhill.

Potential outcomes

• Initial reductions: The process will likely start with cuts to operational and supply chain roles, as has already begun.
  Later-stage management cuts: These will be followed by more strategic trimming of middle and senior management roles to create a leaner, more agile leadership structure.
• Varying impact: As CEO Geoff Martha stated in a past restructuring, the impact will vary across teams, regions, and countries. Some departments, especially those tied to specific functions like manufacturing and supply chain, will see heavier reductions.

In summary, Elliott's involvement and Medtronic's focus on profitability will likely result in layoffs affecting both middle and senior management. While middle management is most at risk from cost-cutting initiatives, senior leaders in underperforming portfolios or those whose roles are deemed redundant will also face significant scrutiny and potential elimination.

Google AI: EM board members are hired to 2 boards within Medtronic. With EM's involvement, which business units will be likely pushed to improve the profitability? any chance of spin off more business units?

AI generated answer:
In August 2025, after engagement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management (often abbreviated as "EM"), Medtronic appointed two independent directors
John Groetelaars and Bill Jellison and created two new board committees. These new committees will target profitability across all business units, and further spin-offs are a significant possibility.

The new directors' backgrounds point to a focus on operations and portfolio management:

• John Groetelaars is a veteran medtech executive with experience in mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
• Bill Jellison is a seasoned finance executive with a background in operational improvements.

Business units targeted for profitability improvements

The newly formed board committees—the Growth Committee and the Operating Committee—will apply scrutiny to all of Medtronic's business units. Based on past performance and strategic reviews, the following portfolios and divisions are most likely to be pressured for margin improvement:

1. Medical Surgical Portfolio: This unit saw a decline in reported revenue in FY25 and only a modest organic increase. The Operating Committee will likely focus on improving efficiency within its global manufacturing, supply chain, and operations to boost margins.
2. Specialty Therapies (within Neuroscience): This division experienced a decline in organic revenue in Q1 FY26, in part due to challenges like volume-based procurement in China. The new directors will likely push for a more effective strategy to address these market-specific headwinds.
3. Cranial & Spinal Technologies (CST) (within Neuroscience): Although CST is generally a strong performer, the Growth Committee will look for opportunities to optimize its performance, possibly through more strategic tuck-in acquisitions or by better leveraging technology like the AiBLE™ spine surgery ecosystem.

Chance of more business unit spin-offs

The appointment of these new board members and the creation of the Growth Committee, which is explicitly tasked with evaluating "potential divestitures," significantly increase the probability of further spin-offs.

Evidence of activist influence: Medtronic's moves came after "constructive engagement with Elliott". Activist investors like Elliott Management are known for pressuring companies to sell or spin off underperforming or non-core assets to unlock shareholder value.

Successful model for spin-offs: The diabetes spin-off is a template for how Medtronic can create a more focused, higher-margin portfolio. It has already been deemed a successful strategy that improves margins and earnings per share.
Potential candidates: Any unit that underperforms on profitability or operates with a different business model could be a candidate for divestiture. This includes:
Less profitable parts of the Medical Surgical portfolio: If profitability doesn't improve, parts of this portfolio, which has underperformed its peers, could be on the block.
Sub-units within Neuroscience: While neuroscience is a high-growth area, specific sub-units with lower profit margins could face scrutiny.

The next significant milestone will be the Medtronic investor day in mid-2026, where the company will detail the work of the new committees and likely provide more information on its long-term strategy.

Nike needs significant restructuring. HR should be reduced by 70%, administrative staff by 80%, and E-Band positions by 90%. Wipro and other IT consulting contracts should be cut by 80%, with no additional contractors from India. Marketing and sales should be reduced by 60%. These changes alone would put Nike back on track.

The company suffers from weak leadership and excessive bloat. Elon Musk could likely run Nike more efficiently by eliminating 90% of its staff. My recommendations only target a few departments, but the problem is clear: Nike has hired far too many MBAs and degree-holders in business, marketing, and HR who add little to no real value. If you’re not building, you’re fired. The MBA culture has become a drain, filled with grifters who contribute nothing meaningful.

“We consistently analyze our business functions to ensure we are aligned and operate according to industry best practices. After a thorough review of our accounts payable function, we identified an opportunity to improve and modernize our current approach. This decision fundamentally changes the roles of the current team, leading to a tough but necessary decision to restructure the department,” Kettering Health said in a statement to News Center 7.

https://www.whio.com/news/local/kettering-health-announces-layoffs-department-restructure/MRMLYNQ2RVDMZMXH4HPSOMRJVY/

Why is Worldpay hiring so many roles? I mean we will be RIFing a huge part of their legacy org with moving a substantial amount of our combined company's work to Mexico, India, and Manila within the next 12 to 18 months, beginning with before year end, then Q1 and a substantial one in May 2026.

What a sellout, how sad.

I feel so sorry for everyone who’s been let go. I truly hope they’ll land on their feet quickly, with better opportunities and a bit more luck on their side.

500 people were let go in the US.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/27/google-executive-says-company-has-cut-a-third-of-its-managers.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/27/google-executive-says-company-has-cut-a-third-of-its-managers.html?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-20250828

Can somebody please confirm this?

Symantec and Carbon Black are performing badly ??

What are people's thoughts on how ER will enable the firm to execute with more speed and efficiency? Honestly, I was optimistic when they first announced it because the firm had become so bloated and convoluted that it was difficult to get anything done. But the rollout seemed more focused on short term cost cutting and may seriously backfire on "increasing speed and efficiency" since we lost so much firm knowledge (aka the only people who know how to fix certain systems since they were part of creating them, people who know undocumented processes or work arounds for the many broken systems). I'm worried this will just make things so much worse and make jobs so much harder for those who remain. It's like leadership is operating on an entirely different plane of reality; one where we are a rocket ship instead of bogged down by decades of under investing in tech and poor process design. Over the past 2 years I have experienced them deprecating systems and teams in anticipation of solutions that never seem to materialize. The "running the business" work gets harder and harder with no end in sight.

Restructuring and layoffs are coming. Personally darlings, I think they will sell off a division in order to get the stock prices up.

Trump "America First" doctrine will mean the forced sale of Intel fabs outside of US. The fabs in Ireland and Israel are first on the chopping block, followed by the design centers in IDC Haifa and Bangalore. its over. Panther Lake will be the last product of Intel before selling this group to another fabless company.
Congratz LBT, you ki-led Intel. Good luck everyone.