#costcutting

Millions spent on consultants making upwards $500K each to tell the ELT the answer to our problems is to cut GA costs. Nothing innovative there. By the way BCG told Chevron management the same thing. Big whoop.

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/

Chief Transformation Officer.....

So much experience for someone that is probably not even 40 years old. smh

Early Retirement Program, RIF, and all the talk of cost cutting so that another C Suite title can be created. A position that, most would question, should be the skills of the current $15M per year CEO. smh

Do you know that in EMEA they cancelled all company cars, no more. All savings, everywhere. If anything happen with OpenAI deal for 30B$....

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.

Does the voluntary severance program genuinely aim to reduce the number of involuntary layoffs, or is leadership planning to cut 2,000 positions regardless of how many people opt in?

Review google for leadership salaries. They also need to take a pay cut. You could gather 1 million dollars easily. Perhaps a flatter organization

All we care about these days is whoever comes in with the lowest bid! We don’t even condition anymore or account for needing more PMT for a contractor that is a total sh-t show needing more PMT. Total sh-t show contractor and cut the PMT!!!!

From what I’ve seen, none of it makes sense unless you look at the cost savings. Which means nothing will actually get fixed, but a whole lot of people who truly know what they’re doing will be gone.

This company is constantly buying and cutting us labor how are there not more reports??

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?

True? Another cost cutting move forcing employees into long commutes.

I’ve heard factories are being asked to cut >$50M yearly while still ramping, that’s an extreme target. In the semiconductor space, savings of that magnitude usually come from headcount reductions, vendor contract restructuring, consolidation of manufacturing operations, etc.
Trying to hit that scale of savings during a ramp is especially problematic because ramping fabs need additional headcount, training, materials, and spare parts. That makes it contradictory: the fabs are being asked to grow output and shrink cost simultaneously.

Mohammad Yunus’s reputation (reducing headcount in Assembly/Test in Asia) suggests a playbook of workforce reduction as the primary lever. Bringing that mindset to U.S. fabs is dangerous and reckless from a senior leader driving knowledge drain. I’m surprised employees are not organizing to join Unions.

TI may have set itself up by over-promising Wall Street and under-investing in scalable cost infrastructure. The resulting “savings at any cost” mentality risks not only operations, but also employee trust and legal exposure.

Exxon Mobil Corp XOM recently reported in its 10-K filing that its global workforce decreased by 1,000 to 62,000 personnel in 2022. This was due to cost-cutting measures intended to increase shareholder returns. It was Exxon's third consecutive year of staff reduction, down from 75,000.

The company also forewarned of potential risks for its operations in Kazakhstan, a nation in central Asia that borders Russia by a distance of 7,644 kilometers (4,750 miles). ExxonMobil’s combined oil and gas output in Kazakhstan was 246,000 barrels last year, which were exported via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). According to the filing, Exxon may face an undeterminable loss in cash flow from its businesses in Kazakhstan if Russia interferes with the pipeline's functioning.

The U.S. oil giant, ExxonMobil, holds a 25% stake in the Tengizchevroil (TCO) oil production joint venture that manages the Tengiz and Korolev oil fields in Kazakhstan. The company also holds a 16.8% working interest in the Kashagan field. Per the filing, ExxonMobil's assets in Kazakhstan generated after-tax earnings of $2.5 billion in 2022.

I thought this was funny. All I did was ask is Stephanie Farris liked?

— here’s the unfiltered version of why a lot of people dislike Stephanie Ferris at FIS:
• Worldpay Disaster – People feel she was part of leadership that massively overpaid ($35B) and then sold it at a huge loss, destroying shareholder value. Many see this as one of the biggest fintech blunders ever.
• Wall Street First, Employees Last – She’s viewed as prioritizing appeasing investors (stock buybacks, dividends, “cost savings”) while cutting thousands of jobs and gutting teams, leaving employees demoralized.
• The “Future Forward” Spin – Her transformation program is seen by critics as corporate jargon masking layoffs and cost-slashing, without a real growth strategy.
• Reactive, Not Visionary – Instead of leading with innovation in a fast-changing fintech/payments space, she’s seen as patching leaks, restructuring, and spinning failures as successes.
• Trust Issues – After major service outages and technology failures, people blame her for not modernizing systems fast enough. Customers and partners feel burned.
• Culture Ki-ler – Former and current employees complain on forums like Glassdoor and Reddit that under her leadership, morale has cratered, communication is poor, and talented people are leaving.
• Poor Communication & Accountability – Investors and staff alike feel she dodges responsibility, blames “market conditions,” and leans on vague optimism without real transparency.

In short, the harshest critics say: she’s a cost-cutter, not a builder. Instead of driving innovation in payments and banking tech (where FIS desperately needs it), she’s focused on financial engineering and PR spin.

So anyone know specifically why Nexidia hasn’t worked all week? They keep telling us that there was some ingestion issue and that they’re working on it but that type of issue has historically only had a few hour turn around - not days. Has their cheapskate behavior finally come to bite them?

It just goes to show they don’t care about service quality, employees, or clients. It’s always been about the bottom line, and their appetite for more never ends.

You think you’re working with a skeleton crew right now? Think again. They will cut everything beyond the bare bones and still try to cut more. There will be closures, position eliminations, layoffs, and everything you can imagine to minimize expenses, regardless of the impact on employees. You’ll be expected to do the work of five or six people and be happy about it. That’s private equity for you.

Hey Penny Pincher Pennington! The thin veil you put in front of every HO associate’s face will most certainly backfire! Hiring a ton of offshore associates for cheap won’t magically fix your problems!!! We tried it in the past! It doesn’t work!!! Ever heard of the law of diminishing value?? Welp, too late now!!!!!!!

I know this may be a bit of paranoia and this could genuinely be Mike reshuffling leadership, but with the stock not doing well and rumors of company cutting costs I think it's a bit of a hint that there may be lay offs soon.

My group is doing a small amount of hiring, but every time it's posted in Brazil, because we can pay them significantly less than we would have to pay an American.

Funny how we need to RTO to collaborate, but then we continue to hire people in a different country than the people who are back in the office.

Is there really no other way to improve the bottom line? What kind of incompetent leadership is running this place?

Paramount layoffs are on the cards to help cut down costs and reorganize resources for the next stage in the company's evolution.

https://www.thehrdigest.com/merger-manifestations-paramount-layoffs-are-set-to-affect-3000-employees/

The HR Digest
Aug/26/2025 08:24 AM
Location: Los Angeles, California (Paramount HQ)

Questions Remain Over Aluminum Smelter's 'Natural Disaster' Reasoning for Closing, Layoffs, Judge Says

"The undisputed facts support multiple factors contributed to Magnitude 7's decision to curtail operations. Under these circumstances, the court finds that...

https://www.law.com/2025/08/26/questions-remain-over-aluminum-smelters-natural-disaster-reasoning-for-closing-layoffs-judge-says/
Law.com
Aug/26/2025 08:24 PM
Location: Hawesville, Kentucky (Magnitude 7 Metals smelter)

Layoffs Hit Bloomsbury US Children’s Division

Bloomsbury US has eliminated five positions in its children's division as part of what the company called “a strategic shift toward publishing a more...

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/98490-layoffs-hit-bloomsbury-us-children-s-division.html

Publishers Weekly
Aug/26/2025 08:24 PM
Location: New York, New York (Bloomsbury US HQ)

Chubak cut thousands at Citi took his payday and came here to do the same. Citi has already hired people back after paying them severance reversing his mistakes. How long will it be until EJ hires people back? Of course DC will have moved on to the next company willing to throw money at him to make the same mistakes.

Elevance's stock price continues to plummet and yet we still have the d-mb a--holes running this company from the board and senior VP levels. At what point can we get rid of these people? It feels like a tech company extracting anything of value out of the company before selling it to the highest bidder right now. Nothing works, nothing changes but the same recycled, terrible ideas from upper "leadership". Gail is a fu--ing problem and yet she still makes her 20 million + in bonuses while layoffs and AIP cuts happen. When is enough, enough?

• The layoffs primarily affect employees still in their probationary period, making them easier to dismiss, while public safety positions, including wildland firefighters, remain intact.
• The cuts coincide with the end of the “Fork in the Road” program, which offered employees to opportunity to resign while staying on the payroll through September.
• Other federal agencies, including the Department of Energy and Small Business Administration, are planning similar workforce reductions.

https://www.ehn.org/forest-service-layoffs-cut-10-of-agencys-workforce

If you’re not very actively looking you’re being a fool. They are going to find every conceivable way to push you out. Questioning your scope, doubting the need for headcount, pretending to not understand functions that have existed for years and are crucial - all to hit a stock price. Opps exists solely to destroy as many lives as possible. HR is just legal cover so they can pretend there’s a “peocess.” There will be devastating layoffs in September, followed by nonsense where they choose 15% people they don’t think are cool enough (because IBM is basically a mean girl club in a jr high school) to not get bonuses hoping for attrition,, followed by more debanding - hoping for attrition, followed by a five day workweek hoping for attrition, followed by another round of devastating layoffs - which probably just barely gets us to next summer. “Operations people” at IBM are subhuman filth who only care about hurting as many of you as possible. Protect yourself. Protect your children. Get out. That has to be your full time job. Just get out.

Not sure why I still waste energy worrying about layoffs. They're basically a given at this point. Leadership made it clear - more cuts and “savings” are coming through the end of the year. That means stay ready, keep some savings if you can, and always have an eye out for other options.
No point in stressing, it's out of our hands.

was stuck in a GTO security meeting with a VP, an SD, and a D who were completely clueless about security. Honestly, my 12-year-old knows more than these muppets. I get it, though. They probably got roped into this gig after the CISO and the whole team were shown the door to save a few quid. "Who needs a security team? They're just a drain on resources."

I won't spill the beans on the meeting, but let’s just say it involved an HR, ethics, and legal issue that any other company would take seriously. Here? It was all about blaming the victim. When I asked security to check reports or audit records, they shrugged and said they don’t keep those. Really? That’s a load of rubbish. The last security team handed me a year-long report detailing profile baselines and behaviour deviations.

The current GTO security crew is either completely lost or they've slashed costs so much they can't even run the show anymore.

Our Macy’s hasn’t had the paper bags with handles in weeks. We’ve only had paper bags with no handles. This happens a lot at our Macys. It’s bad enough that we have to charge 5 cents for the paper bags with handles. I’m not charging for the paper bags with no handles. They provide us with straps, garment bags & reusable bags for a $1.00 though. Customers aren’t happy sometimes after buying & paying so much for their items that this is all we have. Are any other Macys running into the problem of no paper bags with handles in their stores. Was just curious.

Leadership seems completely focused on short-term gains, cutting costs wherever they can, and keeping stock prices up for the moment. Employees feel like replaceable parts, and it’s clear that long-term health of the company is an afterthought. There’s no sense of investment in people or the future here.

Is that the end goal?

After closing hundreds of branches through merger and project star, the latest bright idea to save the bank is to build hundreds of new branches lol. Analysts (particularly Mike Mayo) promptly p-o-p-o these plans as too little too late, pointing out the plan doesn’t actually solve for the banks primary issues.

Looking in my crystal ball, I can see in ~ 2 years time we will have new leaders whose “bold” idea to save the bank will be to consolidate/close branches.

Sorry I’ve been hiding inside a bubble, but d-mb question…….Could someone please tell me exactly why they are doing these layoffs? Seems to be so out of the blue especially when they get rid of the ones that are very knowledgeable and valuable to this company

https://www.aboutschwab.com/leadership

Look at all those smiling faces!! Happy, rich & convinced they work harder & deserve more than everyone else! So proud & accomplished as they send out surveys to support planned pay cuts for everyone but themselves & their club.

Let’s vote here (where our voices actually count just as much as they do at CS):

Which EC member deserves a pay cut the most??

• AT&T is consolidating 22 internal help-desk centers into six US locations, according to sources.
• The move comes after a memo from CEO John Stankey and an employee survey revealed falling engagement.
• The company has taken a similar approach to consolidation previously, as AT&T looks to cut legacy costs.

https://www.businessinsider.com/att-help-desk-manager-relocation-stankey-memo-2025-8

As a cost cutting measure both sites are now under one leadership team. The next step is to start eliminating duplicate roles.

Get ready for a wild ride

Envision group being gutted. Losing over 20 people and Foodbuy eliminating about 30. Most were long tenure associates with over 10 years of service with compensation over $120,000