September 27, 2025

BENGALURU: Accenture CEO Julie Sweet gave a refreshing update about a hot topic—H-1B visas. "This is really a non-issue because we only have about 5% of our people in the US on H-1B visas, and they're for really specialised experience and skills for our clients. Not something that's really a big impact on Accenture," Julie said confidently during the company's earnings call on Thursday. So, the drama of H-1B visa worries? Not so much for Accenture! Digging deeper, a Kotak Institutional Equities report revealed Accenture is steadily reducing its reliance on H-1B visas. The number of initial approvals plummeted from 3,442 in 2015 to just 190 in the first nine months of 2025. Now, that's a big shift! (See graphic) On the workforce front, Accenture cut down its headcount by 11,419 in the September quarter, settling at a grand total of 7.7 lakh employees worldwide. This includes over 3.5 lakh talented people in India. The financial brain of the company, CFO Angie Park, spoke about a bold move — a six-month business optimisation program started in Q4. This program already caused a $615 million charge, with another $250 million expected in Q1, totaling roughly $865 million. Angie explained, "The business optimisation programme has two parts: one related to rapid talent rotation that Julie mentioned, which reflects severance associated with headcount reductions that we are making in a compressed timeline, and second, related to the divestiture of two acquisitions that are no longer aligned with our strategic priorities. These actions will result in cost savings, which will be reinvested in our people and our business." Now, the numbers that excite investors: For fiscal year 2025, Accenture reported a sparkling 7% revenue rise across all sectors and regions. The operating margin also crept up to 15.6%, up by 10 basis points from last year. Of this revenue growth, 4% came from organic growth, and 3% from inorganic sources (like acquisitions). Looking at the last quarter, revenue climbed 4.5% with all regions showing gains. Healthcare dipped slightly by 3%, but other areas raced ahead: media & technology jumped 6%, BFSI soared 10%, health & public service rose 7%, and products grew 8%. Region-wise, Q4 revenues increased 5% in local currency in the Americas, 3% in EMEA, and a strong 6% in Asia-Pacific. So, while H-1B visas might be in the news, Accenture rolls on with smart moves, pruning where needed, and growing where it counts!

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Tags: Accenture, H-1b visa, Us workforce, Business optimisation, Revenue growth, Headcount,