Accenture

Accenture has announced that more than 11,000 employees will lose their jobs, and the company has warned that more cuts could be coming. The reason, according to its leadership, is the rapid shift toward artificial intelligence. This decision has sent ripples across the business world, not only because of the scale of the layoffs but also because of what it says about the future of work.

The Pentagon has abruptly canceled two major HR software modernization projects for the Air Force and Navy—provided by Accenture and built on Oracle’s platform—after more than a decade of development and a combined spend of at least $800million. The programs, intended to overhaul outdated payroll and personnel systems, were described as nearly completed and not suffering from major publicized technical failures or cost overruns. Yet, by May 2025, the Pentagon paused and then terminated both, pivoting to seek solutions from top Silicon Valley vendors Salesforce and Palantir instead

Accenture, a global consulting giant, has decided to abandon its long-standing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals, citing shifts in the U.S. political climate. In an internal memo seen by Reuters, CEO Julie Sweet announced the company would phase out its 2017 diversity targets and career development programs aimed at specific demographic groups. This move aligns with a broader trend among major corporations, including Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon, which have scaled back DEI initiatives following Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025.