Accenture has changed the way it delivers salary increases, splitting approved raises between a permanent base pay rise and a one-time lump-sum cash payment for its global workforce of more than 780,000 employees. The shift takes effect in the company’s June compensation cycle and covers around 350,000 employees in India.
Under the revised structure, employees receiving an approved increase will have 50% added to their base salary, with the remaining 50% paid out as a one-time cash amount during the June cycle. So an employee approved for a 3% raise will have 1.5% reflected in base pay and receive the other 1.5% as a lump sum, according to an internal memo reviewed by The Times of India. Promotion-linked increases continue to flow entirely through base pay, and annual bonuses, awarded in the December cycle, remain separate from the new arrangement.
The company framed the change as a way to reach more employees while giving them faster access to cash. “June is our primary cycle for promotions and base pay increases. Last year, we gave limited stay-at-level increases, and this year we are taking a different approach,” Accenture said in the memo. The firm said the model lets it distribute base pay increases more broadly while providing immediate cash that many employees value.
The move follows a year of restricted pay revisions for employees who stayed at the same level. It also lands during a period of significant workforce change at Accenture, which has been running a multi-month business optimisation programme tied to severance costs and an AI-led talent strategy of upskilling staff while exiting roles where reskilling is not viable.
Employee reaction has been mixed. Some staff have questioned whether the split is a one-time measure or a permanent feature of future cycles, how the lump-sum portion will be taxed, and what it means for long-term earnings growth, given that only half of an approved increase will be included in recurring salary.
Accenture said pay decisions will continue to rest with talent leads and remain based on skills, individual performance, business impact, and employee contributions. The new mechanism changes how approved increases are delivered, not how compensation decisions are made.
Whether the split becomes a longer-term approach will depend on employee response, business conditions, and future planning cycles. For now, the June review marks a notable shift in how one of the world’s largest employers hands raises to its workforce.
