(Reuters) -Accenture beat fourth-quarter revenue estimates and unveiled a six‑month, $865 million restructuring to realign its workforce and operations for rising demand in digital and AI services.
The restructuring program highlights the broader trend of companies adapting their workforce and operations to meet growing demand for digital and AI services, while using restructuring to cut costs and funnel savings into training and operational efficiency.
The plan includes severance and selected divestitures, with savings redirected to staff training and operational efficiency.
The Dublin-based company expects about $250 million in charges in the November quarter, on top of $615 million recorded in the fourth quarter, for a total of $865 million.
Accenture said it is continuing to hire while rolling out a new talent strategy that emphasizes upskilling, phasing out roles with nonviable skills, and using AI to improve productivity.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 one-time fee for H-1B visas, part of his immigration crackdown, a move that has raised concerns about higher labor costs and limited access to skilled workers, especially for IT and consulting firms such as Accenture.
Accenture secured approval for 1,568 H-1B visa beneficiaries in the first half of the year, U.S. immigration data shows, placing it among the top 25 U.S. employers using the program.
Changes to H-1B visa policy are not likely to have a significant impact on Accenture’s business, CEO Julie Sweet said, noting that only about 5% of its U.S. employees are employed on such visas.
U.S. federal contract delays and cancellations, which represented 8% of revenue in 2024, reduced this year’s growth by roughly 20 basis points, company executives said in a post-earnings call.
New bookings, a closely watched metric that measures future revenue based on contracts, were $21.3 billion for the quarter.
Accenture sees full-year 2026 revenue growth between 2% and 5%, slightly below estimates of 5.3%, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $17.6 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $17.36 billion.
(Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru: Editing by Tasim Zahid)
