(PatriotWise.com) — The financial software and tax preparation company behind TurboTax and QuickBooks announced last week a reorganization plan with a focus on artificial intelligence that includes a 10 percent reduction in its current workforce.
Intuit announced on July 10 that it was laying off 1,800 workers but expected to hire at least the same number of new employees during FY2025 as it refocuses its efforts on incorporating AI into its products and services.
Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi said in a company-wide email that most of the layoffs impacted employees who were not meeting the company’s expectations. An additional 300 positions were being eliminated so the company could “reallocate resources” toward other areas of growth while streamlining the work.
The CEO explained that the layoffs were not designed to reduce costs at the company but instead would allow Intuit to redirect investments into the “most critical areas” to further drive growth and support its customers.
Intuit plans to invest in hiring roughly 1,800 new employees in product, engineering, and customer service-related fields like marketing and sales.
Under the reorganization, Intuit expects its overall workforce to increase in FY2025 “and beyond,” Goodarzi said.
In addition to the layoffs, Intuit will be closing its offices in Boise, Idaho, and Edmonton, Alberta, affecting more than 250 employees. Some of those employees will be allowed to transfer to other locations.
Goodarzi described artificial intelligence as “one of the most significant technology shifts of our lifetime” and said that any company unprepared to join the “AI revolution” would quickly “fall behind” and eventually cease to exist.
The Mountain View-based company is offering its laid-off American workers a severance package that includes a minimum of 16 weeks’ pay. Two additional weeks’ severance will be added for each year of employment. The company will also continue healthcare coverage to laid-off employees for at least six months.
The layoffs will take effect on September 9.
In a filing with the SEC, Intuit estimated that its reorganization would cost between $250 and $260 million, mostly during the fourth fiscal quarter ending on July 31.
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