Accenture’s headcount rises by 2,741 in Q2, plans to hire more in the second half of fiscal year

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Information technology major Accenture Plc’s headcount increased sequentially in the second quarter, while it is expected to further ramp up talent in the second half of the fiscal year, signalling improving sentiments around hiring.

On March 19, Accenture’s headcount increased by 2,741 employees to 786,432 in Q2FY226. Accenture follows a September-August financial year.

As of H1FY26, Accenture overall added 7,159 employees. The company’s headcount had increased by almost 5,000 sequentially in the previous quarter.

During the company’s earnings conference call, CFO Angie Park said that Accenture will be increasing its headcount in the second half of the fiscal year.

Given that a substantial portion of Accenture's workforce is based in India, its results often serve as an indicator of the broader trends and potential outcomes within the over-five-million strong Indian IT sector.

The Dublin-headquartered firm's attrition rate remained flat at 13 percent for the quarter.

The world's largest IT services company marginally increasing headcount for the consecutive quarter is a positive since most IT companies have seen a steady reduction in the metric.

Accenture’s Q2 performance

Accenture announced its Q2 earnings on March 19, beating Wall Street expectations, and improving full-year revenue forecast.

The IT consulting firm reported revenue of $18 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $17.76 billion by Zack Equity Research, representing an increase of 8% in US dollars year-on-year.

New bookings during the quarter increased 6 percent to $22.11 billion, with consulting bookings of $11.33 billion and managed services bookings of $10.78 billion.

This is also the first quarter when the IT company did not disclose its standalone advanced AI bookings and revenues, in line with what the company had announced last quarter.

Nevertheless, Accenture's revised outlook anticipates full-year revenue growth to be within the range of 3 percent to 5 percent, compared to its earlier projection of 2 percent to 5 percent.