Big swings. Enterprise software giant Intuit is cutting 17 percent of its workforce. Roughly 3,000 roles. According to an internal memo cited by Reuters, this is the pivot to artificial intelligence.
CEO Sasan Goodarzi wrote it down. Less complexity. Simpler corporate structure. More focus on baking AI into the products. The math is cold but the direction is clear.
“Reduce complexity” isn’t just buzzword bingo anymore, it’s survival.
The company builds TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma. You know them. As of July 2021 (their annual report date), they employed 18,20 people globally. Wait. Let’s look at the current headcount context. The cut affects about 1 in 6 employees. That’s heavy.
Intuit stayed quiet when pressed for comment. Or on whether execs were taking a pay hit. Goodarzi took home $36.8 million in fiscal 2024 (note the fiscal year timing) thanks to cash incentives and stock. The money stays flowing while the seats get pulled out.
Bad timing for anyone getting a pink slip. Tech is bleeding. Over 100,00 jobs slashed this year so far, Statista says. Amazon. Meta. Microsoft. Block. Oracle. Cisco. Cloudflare. Same script: restructure for AI. They’re cutting staff to fund the shiny new tools everyone promises will save them.
Here’s the twist though. These same giants are posting record revenue and profits. Stock prices are moonwalking upward. Investors believe AI is the new oil, or gold, or whatever is hot right now.
Intuit doesn’t look like a winner here. Shares have lagged the S&P 500 for a year. There’s a whisper campaign going around about SaaS dinosaurs getting crushed by new AI models that actually think. Traditional software feels old suddenly. Like a flip phone next to a neural network.
Yet the books still work. Q2 revenue hit $4.65 billion. Up 17%. Net profit? $693 million. Up 48%. Not exactly a company on its deathbed.
Q3 results drop today. They expect another 10 percent bump in revenue. So they’re rich. Just… less rich in potential? The strategy is risky. Fire 3,000 to catch the future. Whether they land the punch or just stumble remains to be seen. The memo said focus. We’ll see if it’s focus or just fear.
