Intuit’s AI gamble: Mass layoff of 1,800 paired with hiring spree

Signage for financial software company Intuit at the company's headquarters in the Silicon Valley town of Mountain View, California, August 24, 2016.

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announced in a letter to the company that it would be laying off 1,800 employees—about 10 percent of its workforce of around 18,000—while simultaneously planning to hire the same number of new workers as part of a major restructuring effort purportedly focused on AI.

“As I’ve shared many times, the era of AI is one of the most significant technology shifts of our lifetime,” wrote Goodarzi in a blog post on Intuit’s website. “This is truly an extraordinary time – AI is igniting global innovation at an incredible pace, transforming every industry and company in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Companies that aren’t prepared to take advantage of this AI revolution will fall behind and, over time, will no longer exist.”

The CEO says Intuit is in a position of strength and that the layoffs are not cost-cutting related, but they allow the company to “allocate additional investments to our most critical areas to support our customers and drive growth.” With new hires, the company expects its overall headcount to grow in its 2025 fiscal year.

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