Accenture is undergoing a huge restructuring process centred on Artificial Intelligence (AI), with at least 11,000 people laid off in the previous three months.

The tech giant has opted to part ways with employees that it cannot retrain with AI skills, but it also intends to hire additional people over the next year or two, according to multiple media reports.

According to Chief Executive Officer Julie Sweet, the company’s "number 1 strategy" is “upskilling”. 

“We are exiting on a compressed timeline and people, where reskilling, based on our experience, is not a viable path for the skills we need," she stated. 

The company also plans to help upskill staff on AI systems. “Every new wave of technology has a time where you have to train and retool. Accenture's core competency is to do that at scale,” she said.

Accenture's AI consulting services have produced $2.6 billion in revenue during the last six months. The restructuring strategy appears to be based on the company's potential for growth through artificial intelligence.

According to Tech.co, the company's latest move will cost them approximately $865 million in severance compensation. It has been reported that Accenture's workforce shrank from 791,000 to 779,000 between May and August of this year due to layoffs.