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Accenture 360° Value
Reporting Experience
Every day, the people of Accenture embrace change and create value for all our stakeholders, in every part of the world—we call it 360° value.
Our 360° Value Reporting Experience captures how we deliver this unique value across six vital dimensions: Sustainability, Talent, Inclusion & Diversity, Client, Experience and Financial. Here you can find all our reporting and data—a comprehensive view of our financial and environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures, and our goals, progress and performance for each.
I invite you to explore our latest report and discover why creating 360° value is at the heart of our business. You will see the value we bring—and the change we make—in every direction.
Julie Sweet
Chair and Chief Executive Officer
see introduction by Julie Sweet
Please select Sustainability Talent Inclusion & Diversity Client Experience Financial
Explore 360° value
in every direction
One of the greatest forces of change since the digital revolution is here.
See the ways we're sustainably driving new value and growth.
Making the best even better—investing in and caring for our 738,000 people.
Learn how we're supporting our talent and advancing careers globally.
Creating our culture of equality creates opportunity everywhere.
Discover how ensuring everyone belongs is delivering 360˚value.
Understanding issues, anticipating needs, investing in solutions:
Discover why 99 of our top 100 clients have been with us for more than a decade.
Sharing time, talent and tech through volunteering and innovating.
Explore the value of making a difference for our clients, people, partners and communities.
Better results mean better 360˚value for all our stakeholders.
Learn how we've achieved records across all financial metrics in FY22.
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Achieve net-zero emissions
Move to zero waste
Plan for water risk
Investing in a low-carbon future
Environmental Responsibility Policy
Achieve net-zero emissions by 2025
Our external commitments
Our commitments to the leading standard-setting bodies on climate issues provide external validation for our carbon targets and guide the continuing evolution of our environmental commitments.
Science-Based Target
In 2018, we set a target approved by the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), a collaboration among CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature. Our goal is to meet our science-based target by the end of 2025.
Our goal is to reduce our absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 11%.
Our Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions reduced by 91%,
surpassing our goal of a 65% absolute reduction against our 2016 baseline.
In fiscal 2022,
our total emissions decreased by 68% from our 2016 baseline,
surpassing one aspect of our 2025 target.
Total emissions per unit of revenue reduced by 82%,
surpassing our goal of reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions per unit of revenue intensity by 40% from our baseline in 2016.
Building on our long-standing commitment to reduce our emissions—and reflecting our progress and increased ambitions—we are setting a new science-based target aligned to 2030, with a base year of 2019. This new target has been submitted to the Science Based Targets initiative for approval.
UNGC Business Ambition for 1.5° Pledge
In alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement, we pledged and joined other leading
companies to do our part to keep global warming below 1.5° Celsius.
Carbon reduction
We are focusing first on actual reductions across our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
Our environmental sustainability management is particularly focused on addressing climate change. Our most significant aspects relate to indirect emissions from Scope 2 electricity usage and Scope 3 emissions from business travel and purchased goods and services. Through continuous innovation, we are scaling solutions to make real, lasting change.
Carbon Emissions by Scope
Jump to our Environmental and Inclusion & Diversity Data Assurance
Carbon Emissions by Source
Carbon Emissions by Region
Renewable Electricity
97% renewable electricity
in our locations.
100% renewable electricity
by the end of 2023.
Electricity from Renewable Sources
Office Energy by Source
Prior years have been restated due to a change in methodology for Scope 3 emissions. CO2 emissions related to Office Electricity reflect a market-based (MBM) accounting approach which includes the impact of renewable electricity contracts and residual mix factors. Accenture's carbon emissions for fiscal 2022 have been reviewed by an independent third-party accountant. Refer to the Independent Accountants' Review report for more information.
Beginning in FY22, we updated the presentation to reflect the sources of our emissions by Scope. Prior periods have been adjusted to conform to the current year presentation.
As a digital-first business, Accenture uses collaboration technology with agility and at scale to deliver for our clients.
We are equipping our people to make climate-smart travel decisions, such as providing access to an aviation carbon calculator that highlights actual emissions differences between flights, and have implemented an internal carbon price on travel. When travel is necessary, we promote carbon-efficient alternatives, such as rail, where available.
Our increased reliance on digital collaboration and ability to meet client needs without travel has led to more cost-efficient client delivery and reduced carbon emissions.
18B+ minutes of Microsoft Teams
audio calls
1.8B+ minutes of Microsoft Teams
Responsible buying
Just as the emissions we generate in the service of our clients impact their emissions, our own suppliers contribute to our emissions.
Our goal is that
of our key
suppliers*
disclose their environmental targets and actions being taken to reduce emissions by the end of 2025 as we work to reduce our Scope 3 emissions
Our goal is that 68% of our key suppliers* have disclosed targets
Our goal is that 75% have disclosed actions to reduce their emissions
*Key suppliers are defined as vendors that represent a significant portion of our 2019 Scope 3 emissions.
With our journey to cloud complete, we have the direct advantage of consuming the new, more sustainable capabilities from cloud providers.
We created a CO2 calculator prototype to measure an estimation of our public cloud energy consumption—and our devices and their usage patterns—so we can better understand reduction opportunities and make data-driven decisions.
To address remaining emissions, we are investing in nature-based carbon removal solutions.
Nature-based carbon removal
At the end of fiscal 2022, our nature-based carbon removal portfolio included projects in Indonesia, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Our nature-based carbon removal solutions are generally expected to do the following—all while removing CO2 from the atmosphere:
reforest land
rebuild biodiversity
make agriculture more sustainable
help create green jobs
allow natural ecosystems to rebound and thrive
At the end of fiscal 2022, our nature-based carbon removal portfolio included projects in:
Since agricultural lands throughout Indonesia are especially susceptible to climate change with floods and droughts causing land degradation, local farmers are one of the social groups most vulnerable to climate change.
Our project will reforest degraded land and engage local communities, cooperatives and farmers in sustainable agroforestry practices, including helping farmers plant trees on their own land. Ultimately, this will help contribute to stabilizing incomes, reducing poverty, increasing biodiversity and promoting community-based action, all while sequestering carbon.
We are supporting projects that have converted marginal farmland to permanent woodland in Scotland and England. This is expected to lead to the creation of new and diversified, sustainable forests.
Beyond being an effective and cost-efficient natural climate solution, able to remove and store CO2 from the atmosphere, the U.K. woodlands offer diverse local benefits. Woodlands act as important natural water filters, help prevent floods, serve as essential habitats for wildlife and provide recreational grounds to improve the mental and physical health of local communities. Locally appropriate reforestation is valuable in enhancing biodiversity. Woodlands also provide support for employment through sustainably managed and harvested timber.
Over the next 20 years, this program is expected to physically remove 13 million+ metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere.
Our projects will be registered under the SD VISta standard, where technically feasible, verifying SDG outcomes along withthe carbon removals.
Through our project, we will plant native giant bamboo on degraded land to sequester carbon and deliver economic growth.
Bamboo's root systems absorb rainwater and help to bind the soil, reducing flooding and erosion risks while providing a natural filter to help restore river water quality.
At maturity, approximately 15-20% of the bamboo will be harvested annually and developed into high-quality, fully traceable building materials for international markets. Harvesting the mature clumps does not harm the plant; in fact, it spurs growth and increases sequestration.
This bamboo project will not only help remove carbon from the atmosphere, but it will also help to diversify incomes, reduce poverty levels and increase local biodiversity.
In the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, a carbon project has been established to restore degraded agricultural lands back to their original and highly beneficial forest ecosystem. The project is designed to incentivize landowners to replant and permanently maintain forests due to financial incentives such as carbon credit sales, wood products and recreational/conservation services.
By design, this project expedites tree growth, accelerates CO2 sequestration, improves tree quality and survivability, and establishes quality wildlife habitats. Together with partners, our support of this project will have lasting positive impacts on the forests, surrounding communities and our global climate.
To move towards zero waste, we have committed to:
Reuse or recycle 100% of our e-waste, such as computers and servers, as well as all our office furniture, by the end of 2025.
During fiscal 2022, we reused or recycled 99% of our e-waste relating to computers and workstations.
We continue our efforts to reuse or recycle other e-waste such as monitors and servers.
Eliminate single-use plastics in our locations. We continue to advance our programs in this area, pivoting to purchasing reusable and plastic-free items in our locations around the world.
To promote business continuity and resilience due to climate change-related risks, we are planning to mitigate the potential impacts of water risk by the end of 2025:
To safeguard our people and operations, we are developing plans to reduce the impact of flooding, drought and water scarcity on our business and our people in high-risk areas.
We proactively analyze our water risk using the World Resources Institute Aqueduct tool.
Although Accenture is not a water-intensive company, we minimize our use of water wherever feasible, including responsible use, reuse, management and discharge across our office portfolio. We are particularly conscious of our locations in water-stressed areas.
To unlock shared value for both business and society, we are committed to investing in a low-carbon future.
As a signatory of the World Economic Forum's Clean Skies for Tomorrow sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) pledge, which includes an aviation industry goal of flying on 10% sustainable aviation fuel by 2030, we are committed to purchasing SAF with our partners and only doing so from socially and ethically beneficial sources.
Nature and biodiversity
Accenture is committed to contributing to a nature-positive future with our people, clients, suppliers and our broader ecosystem.
We are taking action for nature through our goals on climate, waste and water, including supporting biodiversity through initiatives such as our nature-based carbon removals.
Our direct impact on nature is low, due to our location footprint being comprised largely of leased office space in urban areas.
Planting trees to celebrate our people
We are planting 674,000 trees
in support of our overall commitment to sustainability, and to recognize the importance of each of our people around the world—one to represent each person at Accenture at the time of our announcement in December 2021.
So far, more than 350,000 of our trees
have been planted in Canada, Denmark, India, Ireland, Malawi, New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand.
The trees will eventually be planted in 14 countries
across six continents, in regions where our people live and work.
Reducing our environmental impact is built into our Code of Business Ethics and our core values, specifically Stewardship.
These inform our Environmental Responsibility Policy, which was established in 2007 and is reviewed annually. Industry-wide external certifications, such as ISO® 14001, demonstrate our commitment to running our business responsibly and sustainably, and to integrating environmental practices into our operations.
Accenture's Environment Management System is ISO® 14001-certified globally.
Goals & progress: path to net-zero
UNGC Business
Ambition for 1.5° Pledge
In alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement, we joined other leading companies and
pledged to do our part to keep global warming below 1.5° Celsius.
Meet our science-based target by 2025
Achieved 68% reduction in total emissions from our 2016 baseline,
surpassing our 2025 target to reduce absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 11%.
Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions reduced by 91%,
surpassing our goal of reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions per unit of revenue intensity by 40% against our 2016 baseline.
Net-zero emissions by 2025
Focus first on actual reductions across our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions:
Achieved 97% renewable electricity
toward our goal of 100% renewable electricity by the end of 2023.
68% of our key suppliers* disclosed targets and 75% disclosed actions
toward our requirement that 90% of our key suppliers disclose their environmental targets and actions to reduce emissions by the end of 2025.
Investing in nature-based carbon removals ,
expected to remove an estimated 13+ million metric tons of carbon over the next 20 years to address remaining emissions.
Accenture Global Human Rights Statement
Human rights and our supply chain
Eradicating human trafficking
Accenture has been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) since 2008.
As stated in our Code of Business Ethics (COBE), we seek to align to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We therefore focus our human rights efforts on those areas that are most relevant to our business and operations in terms of potential human rights impacts. We also recognize that our clients and other stakeholders increasingly seek visibility into our human rights practices and policies.
We continue to review our human rights efforts, as well as best practices in the marketplace, to assess how we can further strengthen our commitments. In cases where it is unclear how to apply the law in a way that is consistent with our human rights principles, we are guided by our core values and COBE to support and respect the principles of internationally recognized human rights.
We also adhere to relevant international instruments and documents, including the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, in addition to the UN Guiding Principles.
Our human rights governance
We recognize that support and respect for human rights is an integral part of our sustainability commitments.
Our ESG steering committee has responsibility across all operational sustainability topics, including human rights governance and strategic decision-making. This committee is chaired by our Senior Managing Director and Executive Director – Corporate Services & Sustainability and Business Operations.
Our human rights priorities
We focus our human rights efforts on areas most relevant to our business and operations in terms of potential human rights impacts:
Diversity and equal opportunity
Health, safety and security
Employment conditions and working practices
Because of the global scale and diversity of our business, we prioritize our supply chain due diligence efforts by focusing on areas that align with our priorities; areas where we can appropriately make the most impact; and areas of heightened concern or in higher-risk geographies.
We recognize the importance of assessing potential risks to rightsholders. We continually review, adapt and incorporate human rights due diligence across our enterprise risk management systems and legal compliance processes, in addition to across our supply chain.
Our relationships with our suppliers help us amplify our human rights commitment. Our Supplier Standards of Conduct, (SSoC) which supplements our COBE, sets out the standards and practices that Accenture suppliers are required to uphold or make an equivalent commitment. In turn, Accenture expects our suppliers to apply our SSoC to their own suppliers.
We work to be thoughtful and targeted in how we select and engage our suppliers, particularly in relation to higher-risk sectors and countries, and as our business evolves. For example, we worked with a third-party specialist to help prepare our first Conflict Minerals Report by reviewing our supply chain for products that contain 3TG minerals (tin, tungsten, tantalum or gold).
We are committed to doing business ethically and legally, and we seek to leverage our global buying power to advance human rights.
We continue to invest in new technology and processes to help us have greater visibility into the ESG performance of our suppliers.
We are proud of the launch of our Sustainable Procurement Hub (The Hub), which we are rolling out globally. This new technology platform will enhance and provide greater transparency from our direct suppliers about their own human rights policies, due diligence and inclusive practices.
The Hub supports how we make ethical purchasing decisions, onboard our suppliers and assess their ESG performance. It is also a vital part of our compliance with supply chain due diligence requirements, including Germany's Supply Chain Act and Norway's Transparency Act.
We encourage our people, suppliers and subcontractors to raise ethical and legal concerns
including potential human rights issues, and we provide a range of secure channels for them to do so confidentially, and anonymously where allowed by law.
We provide a mechanism to enable our suppliers' employees to speak up about legal or ethical concerns, including slavery and human trafficking. Employees of Accenture suppliers may report concerns or violations (anonymously, where permitted by local law) through the Accenture Business Ethics Helpline.
Anyone with an ethical or human rights concern about Accenture's supply chains or organization can contact the helpline by phone or online:
A free phone number—+1 312 737 8262 (or in India, +1 888 276 6226; access code 000-117)—is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Online inquiries can be submitted to our Business Ethics Helpline website.
All queries are handled by an independent team confidentially—and, where allowed by law, anonymously.
Whether internal or external, we treat all concerns seriously and in strict confidence. We protect anyone who raises, in good faith, a concern about a human rights issue or who assists us, or a law enforcement authority, by providing information to address such a concern.
Accenture continues to drive the adoption of a living wage with our suppliers around the world.
Our Supplier Standards of Conduct strongly encourages our suppliers to pay a living wage (or higher) to people who provide services directly to our company and/or our clients.
Modern slavery, child labor and human trafficking
Our long-standing commitment to human rights includes eliminating modern slavery, child labor and human trafficking in our supply chains.
Given the nature of our business and supply chains, and the risk assessments we have undertaken to date, we believe the risk of modern slavery, child labor and human trafficking in our supply chains is low.
However, we are not complacent and frequently review how we can improve and evolve in response to changing circumstances and our evolving business.
Our Modern Slavery Transparency Statement provides more information about our efforts. While this statement is required by law in the United Kingdom and Australia, it also covers our commitment beyond these jurisdictions.
Accenture's Supplier Inclusion & Sustainability team has a dedicated focus on conflict minerals in our supply chain.
Given the recent evolution of our Industry X business into hardware manufacturing, this work is a vital part of how we address modern slavery across our global supply chain. For more information, see our Conflict Minerals Report.
Accenture is leveraging the power of technology and private and public sector partnerships to end human trafficking in our lifetime.
A growing internal community of practice, executive sponsors, global partners and leading technology services and practitioners are finding ways to discover, describe, create, scale and sustain solutions to bring an end to human trafficking.
Watch these short video clips, Be the Change: Human + Machine Fighting for a World Free of Human Trafficking, that highlight conversations from a diverse panel of experts addressing how they, their organizations and their communities have joined in on this fight.
Consider how you can join in to end human trafficking within your own area of influence.
Procurement Plus
Driving supplier sustainability
Procurement Plus, our overarching approach, shapes how we work with suppliers to promote sustainability.
Beyond transactional procurement, Procurement Plus addresses four thematic pillars to advance responsible buying:
Supplier inclusion and diversity
This approach informs every aspect of our supply chain, building stronger partnerships based on ethical behaviors, transparency, agility and inclusivity.
Our Procurement Plus buying program influences key initiatives such as our award-winning Supplier Inclusion & Sustainability Program.
We are committed to driving responsible buying practices for ourselves and for the wider marketplace.
Our ethical procurement strategy
As we continue to build supply chains that are more sustainable and inclusive, we recognize the need for an ethical procurement strategy that is reflective of our core values and our Code of Business Ethics.
Our Supplier Standards of Conduct reflects our support of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)—and we have continued to lead by example in upholding these principles since we signed the UNGC in 2008.
Payment certainty
We realize the economic certainty that prompt payments can provide a supplier, whether a FORTUNE 500 company or a SME. In the United Kingdom, we are a signatory to the voluntary Prompt Payment Code, which requires a continual focus on ensuring that we pay our suppliers on time, within the payment terms agreed.
We consistently make more than 95% of our U.K. payments within 60 days, as required by the code. Our Payment on Time Centre of Excellence and technology investment drives continuous provements in this area. We are proud to be leaders in shifting the payment culture to be more efficient and fairer.
In our drive for responsible buying excellence, we work continuously to adopt sustainable practices and are continually improving our supplier and contractor management processes.
Promoting supplier engagement
We actively work toward increasing the number of suppliers reporting their sustainability performance—
for example, the percentage of suppliers that report emissions reduction targets and actions or regularly assess their own supply chains.
Our Sustainable Procurement Hub is being used in over 30 countries
with further deployments and program enhancements planned in fiscal 2023.
We have utilized the Hub to conduct 3,000+ sustainability assessments
to better understand our suppliers' ESG performance.
Carbon disclosure
Since 2010, we have invited select suppliers to respond to CDP's supply chain self-assessment questionnaire.
As of December 1, 2022, 68% of key suppliers* disclosed their targets and 75% disclosed the actions they are taking,
up from 58% and 60% as of December 1, 2021, respectively.
As part of our goal to reach net-zero by the end of 2025, we set an ambitious target requiring
90% of our key suppliers* to disclose their environmental targets and actions being taken to reduce emissions by the end of 2025.
The Sustainable Procurement Pledge
To further advance awareness of the positive impact procurement has on sustainability, Accenture has joined forces with The Sustainable Procurement Pledge (SPP).
The SPP is a global, nonprofit community of procurement professionals who aim to embed sustainability in their daily activities. SPP empowers and equips procurement professionals with access to the right knowledge, tools and behavior. Accenture is supporting these efforts and participating on the leadership and advisory panels.
Building a strong ethical culture
For the 15th consecutive year Accenture has been recognized on Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Companies list.
This recognition is a testament to our dedication to ethical leadership, compliance practices and sustainability.
We rely on our core values and our Code of Business Ethics (COBE) to not only inform our behavior but also help all our people make ethical choices and consider the full impact of their decisions.
Our values shape our culture and define our character. We live our core values through individual behaviors that guide how we act and make decisions.
Client value
Enabling clients to become high-performance businesses and creating long-term relationships by being responsive and relevant and by consistently delivering value.
Leveraging the power of global insight, relationships, collaboration and learning to deliver exceptional service to clients wherever they do business.
Respect for the individual
Valuing diversity and unique contributions, fostering a trusting, open and inclusive environment and treating each person in a manner that reflects Accenture's values.
Best people
Attracting, developing and retaining the best talent for our business, challenging our people, demonstrating a "can-do" attitude and fostering a collaborative and supportive environment.
Being ethically unyielding and honest and inspiring trust by saying what we mean, matching our behaviors to our words and taking responsibility for our actions.
Fulfilling our obligation of building a better, stronger and more durable company for future generations, protecting the Accenture brand, meeting our commitment to stakeholders, acting with an owner mentality, developing our people and helping improve communities and the global environment.
Our goal is to maintain
90%+ employee completion rates for Ethics & Compliance training.
98% of our people,
including managing directors and our Global Management Committee members,
completed Ethics & Compliance training in fiscal 2022.
Our Code of Business Ethics and related anticorruption policies, which are both part of our global Ethics & Compliance program and human rights efforts, require our people, business partners and business intermediaries (and suppliers through our Supplier Standards of Conduct) to comply with anticorruption laws everywhere we do business, including:
U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Public Officials in International Business Transactions
U.K. Bribery Act
Other applicable anticorruption laws.
Reporting concerns and transparency
100% of concerns reported
to HR, Legal or the Accenture Business Ethics Helpline are investigated,
seeking to confirm the facts in a professional, methodical, thoughtful and balanced manner.
We offer our people many ways to raise a concern—through our leaders, anyone in Human Resources or Legal, and anonymously through our Accenture Business Ethics Helpline—and once they do, we make it clear what to expect.
We encourage and empower our people to speak up safely and confidently if they experience, see or become aware of any inappropriate behavior, including any form of disrespect, harassment, racism, discrimination or retaliation—or have any concerns about unethical or illegal behavior. And we have zero tolerance for retaliation.
Guiding our people's behaviors
The first fundamental behavior in our Code of Business Ethics is "Make Your Conduct Count."
We speak up about concerns, knowing Accenture never tolerates retaliation.
We are proud to be ambassadors of Accenture, and we act accordingly.
We ensure our personal interests and relationships do not create conflicts for Accenture.
We treat each other with respect.
We apply our principle of meritocracy when we make decisions about our people.
This framework creates a foundation for a positive, respectful and inclusive work environment that can inspire our people; reflects who we are and who we want to be as a company; and guides how we work with clients, our partners and each other.
Data privacy and information security
Safeguarding data is one of our most important responsibilities in building and maintaining trust, not only with our people, but also with our clients and others.
Beyond specific regional legal requirements, we apply strict data privacy and security standards to all information, everywhere. All our people have a personal responsibility to practice effective and responsible data management in accordance with our policies, including our Data Privacy Policy and procedures, our Binding Corporate Rules, as well as new and changing global regulations and jurisprudence.
This responsibility serves as a cornerstone of all we do. The Audit Committee of our Board continues to have oversight of our information technology risk exposures, including cybersecurity, data privacy and data security.
While many of our people have returned to
in-office spaces, others continue to work in remote and hybrid work environments.
This complex work model, partnered with potential business risks associated with ongoing geopolitical tensions, reinforces the need for a proactive, cyber-resilient approach to keep data safe across our business, our people and our clients. For example:
We adhere to the highest and strictest information protection and privacy standards for handling and protecting personal data, as evidenced by our global certifications for Information Security (ISO® 27001:2013) and Data Privacy (ISO® 27701:2019). These certifications acknowledge that Accenture complies with the highest, strictest standards for handling and protecting personal data everywhere, and demonstrates accountability. We were the first global organization to be ISO® 27701-certified by the British Standards Institution (BSI) globally, across both our Enterprise and Client Service Business.
We work hard to uphold global data protection and privacy requirements, including the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other data privacy laws in countries where we do business.
Our Enterprise and Client Data Protection programs define the stewardship of Accenture and client information. They define our management processes and controls, in accordance with relevant information protection and privacy laws. BSI has rated Accenture as highest for all U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the Adaptive (Tier 4) implementation-level maturity for our Global Enterprise Services and Client Data Protection Program. Periodic independent assessments by BSI continue for maintenance and re-certification purposes.
At Accenture, we are acutely sensitive to our role in innovating responsibly and consider Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related technologies one of our highest ESG priorities. As AI decisions increasingly influence and impact people's lives, the responsibility of enterprises to manage the potential ethical and sociotechnical implications of AI adoption also grows.
We have defined four pillars of Responsible AI based on what we've learned from implementing our solutions with clients:
Principles and governance
Define and articulate a Responsible AI mission and principles while establishing a transparent governance structure across the organization that builds confidence and trust in AI technologies.
Risk, policy and control
Strengthen compliance with current laws and regulations while monitoring future ones, develop policies to mitigate risk, and operationalize those policies through a risk management framework with regular reporting and monitoring.
Develop tools and techniques to support principles such as fairness, explainability, robustness, traceability and privacy, and build them into AI systems and platforms.
Culture and training
Empower leadership to elevate Responsible AI as a critical business imperative and provide training to enable all employees to have a clear understanding of Responsible AI principles and criteria for success.
Corporate governance: practices and policies
We have a history of strong corporate governance and believe that good governance is critical to achieving long-term shareholder value.
We are committed to governance practices and policies that serve the long-term interests of Accenture and our stakeholders.
Our practices and policies
The following list summarizes some highlights of our corporate governance practices and policies:
Annual election of directors
100% independent Board committees
Shareholders holding 10% or more of our outstanding share capital have the right to convene a special meeting
8 of our 9 director nominees are independent
Strong independent Lead Director, elected by the independent directors
Annual Board, committee and individual director evaluations and self-assessments
Active shareholder engagement
Proxy access right
Regular executive sessions, where independent directors meet without management present
Robust director selection process resulting in a diverse and international Board in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, experience, perspectives, skills and tenure
Policy on political contributions and lobbying
Board takes active role in Board succession planning and is committed to Board refreshment
Active Board oversight of strategy, risk management and environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters
Committee oversight of ESG performance, disclosure, strategies, goals, objectives, risks and opportunities, as well as strategies related to our people, including pay equity, inclusion and diversity, leadership succession and risks
Board diversity policy to actively seek out women and underrepresented candidates
Director overboarding policy limiting service to three other public companies or two other public companies if the director is a public company chief executive officer
Formalized committee oversight to cover political, lobbying and other grassroots advocacy activities and related policies and practices
Oversight of ESG
At Accenture, responsibility for ESG matters starts at the top, with our Board actively overseeing our ESG strategies and progress in meeting our ESG-related commitments, and cascades throughout the business.
As part of this, we have implemented a clear and comprehensive governance structure designed to help us achieve our goals and reflect our objectives throughout the organization while guiding our strategic approach.
Our approach to managing disruptions is based on years of experience, preparation and adapting the way we manage and deliver services.
Our business resilience strategy supports how we operate as a company, starting with our global client base, underpinned by internal functions and technology, and supported by the collaborations of our third-party ecosystem.
of our nine director nominees:
Board commitees
chaired by women
50% of committees
Significant board refreshment
New directors
over past 5 years
Board committees chaired by racially and ethnically diverse directors*
Age distribution
Average age of director nominees
*Racial and ethnic diversity is based on self-reported EEO-1 categories.
Board Tenure
Sustainability Services and partnerships
Creating value and impact across industries
Embedding sustainability
Innovating with clients and partners
Accenture has identified sustainability as one of the five key forces of change that companies must harness to lead in the next decade.
Sustainability is a priority in what we do for our clients—and how we operate our own business.
We continue to expand and evolve our portfolio of Sustainability Services to meet the changing needs of our clients and support the imperative to act on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
As consumers, employees, business partners, regulators and investors demand that companies move from commitment to action, we believe every business must be a sustainable business—a growth engine for new markets, new products and new services.
Creating and evolving Sustainability Services
Drawing across all parts of our business—Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Song (formerly Interactive) and Operations—and collaborating with our partners, we help our clients reinvent their businesses at scale, creating business value and sustainable impact for all stakeholders.
To advance our clients toward their sustainability goals, we offer a full suite of Sustainability Services:
Shaping our clients' business strategies to create value and impact on sustainability in their core businesses across environmental, social and governance issues.
Net Zero Transitions
Helping clients with solutions to reduce carbon emissions—whether from buildings, transport, energy systems or cities—while driving social and economic benefits.
Sustainable Value Chain
Embedding sustainability requirements into every stage of the value chain to build more transparent, circular and decarbonized supply chains.
Sustainable Technology
Enabling organizations to not only use technology more sustainably, but also use and scale technology as a vehicle for being more sustainable.
Sustainability Measurement, Analytics and Performance
Implementing sustainability data, decision-making and performance metrics across the organization to effectively measure business value and sustainable impact.
Sustainable Leadership and Organization
Helping business leaders to build sustainability into everything they do, creating intelligent organizations that are sustainable at their core.
Sustainable Customer Experience and Brand
Helping clients convert their customers' intentions into new behaviors by creating sustainable customer experiences while shifting perceptions about a brand's commitment to sustainability.
Creating value and impact
Our Sustainability Services portfolio is continually evolving to meet the changing needs of our clients. Our extensive cross-industry expertise and a robust partner ecosystem are core to the solutions we deliver. For example:
We helped Sabadell build a centralized sustainability data repository according to European taxonomy, covering business units needs and regulatory reports.
We helped Braskem, a multinational petrochemical company, develop a decarbonization program.
Our strategy is helping a multinational steel manufacturing company in its decarbonization initiative in its plants in Europe and Canada.
We are helping Kubota, a leading agricultural equipment company, reduce CO2 emissions and introduce circular water and waste solutions.
We are helping EDF, a multinational energy company, bring low-carbon energy to more than 6 million U.K. homes through a total enterprise reinvention program.
We helped a Latin American energy company develop a targeted roadmap to improve energy efficiency and CO2 emissions.
Working toward embedding sustainability in everything we do
As part delivering 360⁰ value, we continue to embed sustainability into our work with clients and into our own solutions—with a goal to create meaningful business value and sustainable impact that can transform organizations and industries for a net-zero future.
As we help our clients create their own sustainable futures, we are transforming our business to be sustainability-led, including:
Applying green software principles
Transforming supply chains to consider circularity
Advancing Responsible AI by applying practical, measurable metrics and methodologies
Building and engaging diverse teams and perspectives
This is all part of our goal to embed sustainability into everything we do and with everyone we work with to create business value and sustainable impact, enabled by technology and human ingenuity.
Making learning about sustainability a priority
From our Global Management Committee to all our people, we are embedding a sustainability mindset throughout our company.
Our Sustainability Quotient (SQ) company-wide learning program enables our people to understand and consider how our work can deliver more sustainable outcomes and drive change in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Our sustainability training provides self-paced opportunities for learners to explore the SDGs and Accenture's focus, building understanding about the importance of sustainability in today's context. As of August 31, 2022, nearly 395,000 of our people have taken sustainability awareness-level training.
The SQ training features expert-curated content from Accenture leaders around the world. This training received a Gold Brandon Hall 2022 Excellence Award for Best Unique or Innovative Learning and Development Program.
Expanding capabilities through acquisitions and strategic investments
Through our ventures and acquisitions, we continue to expand our ecosystem to connect our clients with best-in-class emerging enterprise startups to unlock new opportunities for growth and sustainability innovation. Our recent sustainability acquisitions include:
Avieco
Fortitude Partners
Greenfish
Zestgroup
Through Accenture Ventures, we partner with and invest in growth-stage companies that create innovative enterprise technologies to help drive business value and sustainable impact, using an open innovation approach. Our recent sustainability investments include:
ESG Book (formerly Arabesque S-Ray)
pulsESG
Reactive Technologies
SkyHive
We lead with innovation to help our clients imagine and invent their futures as they transform their organizations to become more sustainable.
We bring together our capabilities across our organization to develop and deliver disruptive innovations at scale to help business leaders achieve their sustainability goals.
We anticipate market needs and deepen our impact by embedding sustainability innovation through technology, which is key to how we innovate with clients and partners.
Co-creating with clients
Accenture Innovation Centers deliver sustainability innovation for our clients by building and scaling solutions across technologies and industries.
Accenture Innovation Centers help clients quickly see the value of, and inform decisions about, the right digital solutions for their business, stakeholders and the environment.
Innovating with our ecosystem partners
Together with our technology partners, we are changing how organizations use technology to support responsible business operations and high value, more sustainable customer outcomes.
We have formed strategic sustainability partnerships with SAP, Salesforce and Microsoft, with whom we are co-creating differentiated offerings and assets to accelerate and scale our clients' sustainability and innovation agendas.
Making a difference with strategic partners
For over 20 years, we have formed strategic partnerships with leading organizations
including the United Nations, the World Economic Forum and global nonprofit organizations to help achieve the United Nations SDGs and tackle climate change.
Our partnerships involve joint action to develop thought leadership, deliver programs, coordinate ecosystem action and support sustainable business transformation.
We also partner with highly visible and influential market forums and international organizations
on programs focused on key sustainability challenges and solutions.
Recent analyst recognition
Accenture has been recognized as a leader in the inaugural "Sustainability Enablement Technology Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022" report by industry analyst firm Everest Group.
We are an overall leader and ranked highest in the Vision & Capability dimension within the assessment that detailed profiles of 14 service providers and the integrated capabilities that they offer in the sustainability services ecosystem.
The report highlights our comprehensive Sustainability Services offering, including capabilities for net-zero transitions, sustainable value chain, sustainable technology, environmental, social and governance (ESG) measurement, analytics and performance, sustainable leadership and organization, and sustainable customer experience and brand. Learn more
Accenture has been positioned as a leader in the inaugural "IDC MarketScape: Europe, Middle East and Africa Service Providers for Energy Transition and New Business Models for Oil and Gas Companies 2022 Vendor Assessment."
Several of our key strengths were highlighted, including end-to-end services—spanning strategy, consulting, digital, technology, and operations—and integrated service portfolio, supported by new energy research, innovation capabilities and energy-focused digital labs.
IDC MarketScape also recognized our ability to develop new service capabilities supporting energy transition initiatives, leveraging our broad partner ecosystem and cross-industry expertise. Learn more
Leading in research
We produce a variety of research, insights and reports across the ESG landscape. We also conduct timely topic-specific research to help us continually understand and better shape the evolving ESG landscape. For example, the United Nations Global Compact – Accenture CEO Study on Sustainability has provided the most comprehensive longitudinal study of CEOs' changing attitudes about sustainability since 2007.
Other recent publications include:
Measuring sustainability. Creating value.
Shaping the Sustainable Organization
Uniting technology and sustainability
Reaching Net Zero by 2050
Industrial clusters: Working together to achieve net zero
Our thought leadership also extends to industry-specific research and reports including:
Sustainability in automotive aftersales
Aerospace sets sights on sustainability
Sustainable lending: An action plan for banks
New Energy Consumer: Transition on demand
How investors view mining's new role as a champion of decarbonization
Scaling ESG Solutions in Fashion
Investing for Impact: ESG in private equity
Decarbonizing energy: From A to Zero
We also co-author publications and reports including:
Get Nature Positive (with the Council for Sustainable Business)
The Net-Zero Industry Tracker (with the World Economic Forum)
How China is decarbonizing the electricity supply for aluminium (with the World Economic Forum)
Innovating for society
Communities in crisis and refugees
Through our global Skills to Succeed initiative, we collaborate with our partners to prepare people for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
In fiscal 2022, we equipped more than 1.6 million people worldwide with the skills to make substantive improvements to their lives, for a total of more than 7.5 million since 2009.
Approximately 98,000 people globally built skills through our Skills to Succeed Academy, a free, immersive online learning program, in fiscal 2022.
We already are realizing a future in which we see how critical technology skills are a given for jobs and careers. And we believe we have a responsibility to skill—and reskill—people in our communities. This responsibility also contributes to companies' ability to find and nurture diverse talent and tomorrow's innovators.
Nurturing the next generation
We are helping youth and students gain the digital skills needed to succeed.
Grok Academy's DT Applied program
In collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Telstra and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, we are supporting Grok Academy's DT Applied program in Australia.
Our goal is to help develop more than 18,000 students' digital skills and fluency by the end of 2024.
equips more than 12 million young people each year with the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities.
The global NGO engaged Accenture Development Partnerships to define a strategy that accelerates digital education, cultivates partnerships, and empowers the underserved. We are also helping JA Worldwide operationalize these efforts in Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States
to help expand its reach to more than 100 million students annually by 2050.
GirlCode
Increasing job readiness
We are helping GirlCode, a nonprofit organization in South Africa, empower girls and young women through coding bootcamps, workshops and hackathons to increase their job readiness.
Latin Code Week
Promoting STEM studies
We participated in Latin Code Week, a digital education initiative co-created by SAP and Junior Achievement Americas to promote STEM studies and careers for youths in Latin America. Our people mentored participants in a sustainability app challenge.
Preparing for a job or business venture
Supporting and skilling people to unlock their potential and drive positive social change.
Youth Business International
$5.25 million new grant will help an estimated 240,000 young adults ages 18-35.
AWS/re-Start
Building careers in cloud computing
Across India, we are collaborating with AWS through AWS/re-Start, a skills-development program, to help underemployed or unemployed individuals start careers in cloud computing.
$4.8 million new grant
focuses on investing in a green economy, promoting gender equality and social justice for youth, supporting youth-led advocacy to drive social and environmental change and leveraging technology for digital skilling.
Building work experience
Working with organizations to break down barriers to employment and expand job opportunities to motivated, high-potential underrepresented talent who traditionally have lacked access to the digital economy.
700+ high school and post-high school students
participated in our Skills to Succeed internship and Learning to Lead program in the United States, which provides early career exposure and work experience.
As innovators, we leverage existing and emerging technologies to address critical challenges facing society and help build a more sustainable and inclusive world.
Dansk Blindesamfund
We are helping the Danish Association for the Blind explore how AI-enabled voice-activated assistants can help make life easier
for people who are visually impaired using digital AI assistants, natural language processing and integration of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
We supported the Spanish Red Cross in a 6-month pilot to build a digital reforestation platform,
focusing on capturing the digital representation of an existing forest and a digital reforestation training program.
Conservation International
We are helping Conservation International build a tool that will
allow Indigenous communities to process and manage Wildlife Insights data collected on their lands.
Gerando Falcões
18,000+ youths have learned about social inequities in Brazil's poverty-stricken favela communities
through Favela X-The Game, developed by Accenture Song in support of Gerando Falcões, a Brazilian social justice movement.
The Inclusion Factory
We helped The Inclusion Factory in China develop an AI-powered computer vision approach that analyzes hand gestures and action sequences of workers to understand which steps have been completed and which steps are next.
These AI smarts were integrated into a 3D virtual environment so that feedback can be provided to workers in an intuitive way, empowering employees across a range of learning abilities to continuously remain productive despite dynamic and agile business demands.
T4 Education
We are collaborating with T4 Education on the World's Best School Prize for Environmental Action.
The prize recognizes innovation in how educators run their organizations and in how they integrate sustainability into the core of what they teach, empowering the next generation to harness new technologies and innovative practices that tackle the global sustainability issues that impact us all.
We help welcome refugees in the communities where we work and live around the world, and we recognize how they enrich our communities through their courage, strength and talent. We partner with local and global organizations to help refugees establish new lives, gain meaningful employment and start businesses.
Welcome.US
The Welcome.US CEO Council is co-chaired by Accenture Chair and CEO Julie Sweet and Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and aims to accelerate and scale private sector support for people seeking refuge.
$4+ million
in pro bono consulting services and cash donations
to support the strategic priorities of Welcome.US
Nearly 50,000
jobs available for newcomer job applicants
on the Welcome Employment Exchange in partnership with Manpower and Welcome.US.
We are helping meet the essential immediate and longer-term needs of Ukrainian refugees. Examples include:
Developing apps to meet
essential needs
We developed an app to help distribute insulin and other key supplies to Ukrainian children with diabetes.
Another app helps to identify resources for refugees in Slovakia and connects Slovakians with volunteer opportunities.
Partnering to deliver
food and aid
We partnered with the Confederation of British Industry to organize essential humanitarian food boxes for delivery to Ukraine.
Supporting long-term economic inclusion
We quickly mobilized to partner with job marketplace The Adecco Group to
support Ukrainian refugees looking to start a new career and to open a recruiting channel for new talent.
In Poland, we rapidly transformed our Carrots Academy for Women initiative into an
upskilling program to provide cybersecurity training to Ukrainian women refugees.
We are an anchor partner in the Sunflower Project—a Tent Partnership for Refugees initiative
to accelerate economic inclusion of Ukrainian refugee women across Europe through direct hiring, training and upskilling programs, mentoring and additional support.
We are helping YMCA Europe establish community hubs in Ukraine, Romania, Moldova and Slovakia to
help internally displaced people and refugees connect with local communities and resources, including access to safe and secure skill development and support.
The program is expected to provide more than 10,000 participants with holistic support.
In Poland, we are working with Upwardly Global to create a private sector coalition which aims to develop
new support systems and career advancement initiatives for Ukrainian women refugee job seekers.
Accenture donated $5 million
for nonprofit relief organizations
working to help people in Ukraine and those who are being displaced.
Matched 100% of $1.75 million in donations from our people.
Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) helps our clients—including leading NGOs, private foundations, public donor agencies and the private sector—address society's most critical challenges. Specifically, through its Inclusive Business offering, ADP collaborates with private sector clients to drive sustainable impact at scale to support their ESG goals.
For 20 years, ADP has led diverse work fostering partnerships, collective impact and social equity
to progress the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), improving lives around the world.
More than 270 engagements in approximately 80 countries in fiscal 2022.
ADP's recent work includes:
Facilitating the energy transition in Africa with Mandulis Energy
Uganda-based Mandulis Energy is on a digital transformation journey to optimize and expand its circular bioenergy model. The company converts agricultural waste purchased from refugee and emerging farmers into clean electricity and biogas, while the byproduct is turned into green charcoal briquettes for use in cement or fertilizer production.
Advancing data-driven inclusive global health
In partnership with Novartis Foundation, WHO and the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development's Working Group on Virtual Health and Care, we explored how virtual technologies can help make healthcare accessible through inclusive policymaking and data-driven digitalization.
Launching a sustainability-first metaverse experience with H&M Foundation
Together with the H&M Foundation, we designed and launched a bespoke metaverse experience to educate and change the narrative on planet-positive fashion and inspire consumers to adopt a sustainability-first mindset.
Developing inclusive insurance solutions with Generali Group
We helped The Human Safety Net, the philanthropic arm of Generali Group, a global insurance and asset management company based in Italy, better serve young families and migrants by developing inclusive insurance solutions that solve for the "protection gap"—the difference between economic and insured losses—which hinders people from building economic resilience.
Supporting small retailers across Mexico
We collaborated with a major consumer packaged goods company, financial services organizations (fintechs and payment services providers), and NGOs focused on skills development to design a multi-stakeholder program that has the potential to support the needs of more than 1 million small retailers across Mexico with training, access to loans, digital payments and energy efficiency assets to drive entrepreneurial success.
Accenture contributions by type
*Accenture Foundations refers to independent charitable organizations that bear the Accenture name.
Total Accenture and Accenture Foundations contributions in 2022
US $ (in thousands)
Accenture contributions by region
Environment Human rights Supply chain Ethics and governance Sustainability Services and partnerships Community impact
One of the greatest forces of change since the digital revolution is here. See the ways we're sustainably driving new value and growth.
Net-zero by 2025
Our goal is to achieve net-zero emissions by the end of 2025
Powering change
97% renewable electricity in our locations toward our goal of 100% by the end of 2023
Toward less carbon, naturally
Plan to remove 13 million+ metric tons of CO2 using nature-based carbon removals over the next 20 years
Championing human rights
Committed to supporting and respecting internationally proclaimed human rights
Leveraging our scale
Our relationships with our suppliers help us amplify our human rights commitment
We strongly encourage our suppliers to pay a living wage (or higher) to people who provide services directly to our company and/or our clients
Requiring 90% of our key suppliers to disclose their emissions targets by 2025
Graduated 217 suppliers from our Global Diverse Supplier Development Program
Buying better
3,000+ supplier sustainability assessments
Ethics and Governance
15 years of recognition
On Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Companies list since 2008
98% of our people completed Ethics & Compliance training in fiscal 2022
Clear policies for our people, partners and intermediaries
Sustainability Services and Partnership
Net-zero know-how
CO2 reduction solutions tailored for clients across industries
Embedding sustainability into every stage of the value chain
ESG embedded
Shaping client strategies to create value with sustainability
1.6M+ people worldwide equipped with the skills to make improvements to their lives
Partnering to welcome refugees
Over $4 million in pro bono consulting services and cash donations and nearly 50,000 job openings shared with nonprofit Welcome.US
Set to start up
Partnering with YBI to train an estimated 240,000 young entrepreneurs to start, grow and sustain businesses
Investing in our people
Continuous recognition
Equal pay for equal work
$1.1B invested in
and professional development of our people
40+ million
training hours.
27% increase in training hours delivered in FY22 over FY21.
Average of approximately 61 hours of training per person.
Award-winning development programs
The programs include job-specific, digital and industry skills training through:
24/7 learning created by Accenture experts and informed by neuroscience-based principles;
leading providers of digital learning content;
key industry certifications; and
partnerships with prestigious universities around the globe.
Across Accenture, people at all levels have opportunities to build leadership capabilities and grow their careers.
Technology Quotient
of our people
had demonstrated knowledge in at least 8 of the 12 current TQ topics as of August 31, 2022.
have participated in this program as of August 31, 2022.
Skilling
8,000+ skills in our library
that our people can acquire, based on their work experience and through certifications and learning opportunities.
Skills data
for our people, enabling us to flexibly respond to shifting client needs while also recommending skill-specific training that aligns with an individual's interests.
We recognize our people throughout the year for who they are, what makes them unique and the valuable contributions they make through their work.
Approximately 157,000 promotions during fiscal 2022—a record
Our new social recognition tool has led to 4 recognition moments being given every minute since it was launched
Pay equity at Accenture means that our people receive pay that is fair and consistent when considering similarity of work, location and tenure at career level.
We conduct an annual pay equity review. As of our last review, which reflected annual pay changes effective December 1, 2022:
We have dollar-for-dollar, 100% pay equity for women compared to men in every country where we operate.*
By race and ethnicity, we have dollar-for-dollar, 100% pay equity in the U.S., the U.K. and South Africa.**
*Certain subsidiaries, including recent acquisitions, countries with de minimis headcount, temporary employees and interns were excluded from the analysis.
**The U.S., U.K. and South Africa are the locations where we currently have the data to use for this purpose.
Caring for our people
Foundational benefits standards
Accenture Leadership Essentials
As part of our commitment to creating a place where people can achieve their aspirations both professionally and personally, we take a holistic view of well-being.
Ukraine crisis response
Our commitment includes how we care for our people. In response to the Ukraine crisis, we introduced a range of support services for our people and their impacted families, along with their extended families who are located in Ukraine. This support included in-language:
Crisis helpline for emotional support
Telehealth support with access to physicians
Employee assistance helpline to help with settlement assistance and other needs
For our people in countries bordering Ukraine, as well as for our people and their extended families who have been impacted by the Ukraine conflict, we provided virtual support sessions focused on coping with trauma.
Health, safety and well-being first
All our people have access to employee assistance programs, public health systems, company-sponsored health programs and mental health and wellness programs, where relevant.
We have received
ISO® 45001 certification
We have received ISO® certification—a globally recognized standard for occupational health and safety—in countries including Australia, Brazil, India, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
24/7 Global Watch program
Our Global Assistance and Protection team provides crisis management and security advice and assistance to our people. The team maintains a 24/7 Global Watch program to assist our people with security risks, health advice and local security alerts covering where they live, work and travel.
We strive to create an environment and provide the tools, programs and practices for mental well-being. We continue working to help break the stigma surrounding mental health by fostering a workplace environment where people feel comfortable engaging in open, honest dialogue.
We also launched a comprehensive hub that provides all Accenture people—and their dependents—a central resource for all of our mental health and wellness offerings.
Mental Health Allies
Through our Mental Health Ally network, thousands of our people serve as ambassadors and advocates who help their colleagues facing mental health challenges find the support they may need.
Since fiscal 2020, 225,000 of our people have completed Thrive Global programs to learn skills to support mental resilience; how to build resilience and belonging; and nutritional strategies for cognitive health.
We are on a journey to offer a foundational set of benefits to all our people, regardless of where they live and work.
One of our goals is to provide the following level of benefits coverage—at a minimum—for all our people*:
LGBTIQ+ medical plans
As a means of fostering an inclusive environment for our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people—and all other sexual orientations, gender identities or gender expressions—around the world, we offer:
Equal access to medical plans for our LGBTIQ+ people and their partners
through Accenture-sponsored medical plans, which are offered to 100% of our people where legally allowed or available in the market.
Coverage for transgender-inclusive health care benefits to 95% of our people
through Accenture-sponsored medical plans or government-provided plans, where legally allowed or available in the market.
We offer all of our people a minimum of 15 days of paid vacation, inclusive of vacation, non-statutory holidays and additional paid time off.
We strive to provide a minimum of 16 weeks paid maternity leave, or the equivalent paid time away, to all birth parents inclusive of dual parental benefits and social subsidies, where available.
This benefit is offered to more than 95% of our people.
Bereavement leave for miscarriage
We strive to provide a minimum of three days paid bereavement leave to our people who experience a miscarriage or have a partner who experiences a miscarriage.
This benefit is offered to more than 85% of our people, inclusive of statutory requirements.
*Excludes Avanade, a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft that is majority-owned by Accenture, and recent acquisitions.
We have built on what we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic—from our people, clients and partners—to embrace new ways of working at Accenture.
In fiscal 2022, we brought to life what we call omni-connected experiences—which level the playing field so everyone can participate fully, regardless of their physical location. Through these experiences, people are able to forge relationships, create both personal and business value and grow their careers. We strengthen human connection through our behaviors, digital tools, collaborations in our offices and the culture we create.
Our people and teams have embraced omni-connected ways of working, with 85% of our global survey respondents feeling empowered to work flexibly within their teams.
As people returned to working in person, they were welcomed back into safe, connected and collaborative office spaces.
Our Leadership Essentials set the standard for what we expect from our people and enable us to successfully create 360° value, and include:
Always do the right thing,
in every decision and action.
Care deeply for all of our people
to help them achieve their aspirations, professionally and personally.
Lead with excellence, confidence and humility,
as demonstrated by being a learner, building great teams and being naturally collaborative.
Live our unwavering commitment to inclusion, diversity and equality,
as demonstrated by personal impact and overall results.
Exemplify client-centricity
and a commitment to client value creation.
Have the courage to change
and the ability to bring our people along the journey.
Act as a true partner to each other,
our clients, our ecosystem partners and our communities—committed to shared success.
Actively innovate—
looking across Accenture at what we are doing for clients and externally to partners, competitors, startups, clients, academia and analysts—to learn, respectfully challenge our assumptions and apply the innovation, and cultivate and reward our people for doing the same.
Collaborating to create
innovative career pathways
We worked with START, a technology training program focused on employability for low-income individuals in the communities where we operate. In FY22, over 900 people were skilled through START, and 113 were employed by Accenture.
We are working with Passerelles Numeriques to train disadvantaged young people in our communities through a two-and-a-half-year program that helps them prepare for technology jobs. In FY22, there were 193 graduates—all of whom are now employed, 9 of them by Accenture.
Through our North America apprenticeship program, since 2016 we have hired, trained, coached and provided career opportunities for untapped talent and people who are reskilling because their jobs are at risk of disruption by technology. In FY22, we exceeded our goal for apprenticeship hires to make up 20% of our entry-level hiring in North America.
In FY22, our U.K. apprenticeship program had nearly 200 participants, a 93% increase over FY21. At our London cohorts over the last three years, over 30% of the participants were Black, nearly 60% were women and nearly 70% were from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Investing in our people Caring for our people Creating innovative careers pathways
Making the best even better – investing and caring for our 721,000 people. Learn how we're supporting our talent and advancing careers globally.
$1.1 billion invested in continuous learning and professional development
40+ million training hours
27% increase in training time since last year
100% pay equity
Dollar-for-dollar pay equity for men and women in every country where we operate and by race and ethnicity in locations where we currently have the data available to use for this purpose—U.S., U.K., South Africa
One of the world's best
FORTUNE and Great Place to Work® World's Best Workplaces™ in 2022
On the side of well-being
Thousands of our people serve as Mental Health Allies supporting and helping colleagues
For our people and their impacted extended families in Ukraine and the region
Creating new opportunities
Opening doors in North America
More than 20% of FY22 entry-level hires were apprentices
U.K. growth in apprenticeships
Nearly 200 apprentices in the program in FY22, a 93% increase in participation over the prior year
Embedding I&D
in everything we do
We expect leaders at all levels to help create and sustain a culture of equality where everyone can achieve their professional and personal aspirations.
As a business priority, inclusion and diversity at Accenture starts at the top with our Chair and CEO and our Board of Directors.
Our Board demonstrates this commitment with 56% of our director nominees racially and ethnically diverse* and 56% women, including our Chair and CEO Julie Sweet.
Building belonging
We offer a wide variety of resources to support our people and to increase understanding of our inclusive culture. For instance,
"Thriving Together: Building Resilience & Belonging," a behavior change program focused on building resilience and belonging, has been completed by more than 71,000 of our people in FY22.
Inclusion by design
Working to eliminate discrimination in employment and applying our principle of meritocracy when we make decisions about how our people advance are fundamental parts of our commitment. We are building inclusion into how we work and how we deliver value to our clients by creating and sustaining a company where:
We embed inclusion into the fabric
of our organization and client work
through our work on accessibility, Responsible Artificial Intelligence and inclusive design.
Our leaders are role models for inclusive behavior.
Our people are equipped to be active allies and lead change.
Our policies, practices and processes across the employee life cycle aim to
create a level playing field for equal opportunities.
*For the purposes of this report, racial and ethnic diversity of our directors is based on self-reported EEO-1 categories. Please see our 2022 Proxy Statement for further information.
Achieving gender equality
Goals and progress
47% women
in our workforce