
(ConservativeSense.com) – Tech firm Intuit has laid off over 1,000 employees, accounting for around 10% of its workforce. The company, which owns Mailchimp, QuickBooks, and other popular applications, said it fired the staff members because they were underperforming. “We do not do layoffs to cut costs, and that remains true in this case,” a statement read.
Intuit has invested heavily in Artificial Intelligence in recent years and a spokesperson said they would continue to create training and development programs, adding that the company is undergoing a “transformation” that requires “reinvesting in the necessary strategic functional capabilities and skillsets.”
CEO Sasan Goodarzi added that the staff members who lost their jobs were not meeting expectations, mainly because the company had raised its standards. Goodarzi did not expand on the standards, when or how they were raised, or how much time workers had to adapt.
Like many US tech firms, Intuit is headquartered in California, where just under 600 employees will lose their jobs. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission contained an email to staff inviting them to a “Leaving Intuit Discussion.” The filed documents also note that staff numbers were cut because the company seeks to invest more funds in Artificial Intelligence.
In California, 385 employees were laid off in Mountain View and 215 in San Diego. Intuit will furthermore close sites in Edmonton, Canada, and Boise, Idaho, affecting 250 workers. However, Intuit executives say the company intends to hire new staff and consolidate roles, with a renewed focus on engineering and customer-facing roles such as sales, customer success, and marketing.
The layoffs add to around 60,000 tech job cuts so far in 2024. Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap, and Microsoft announced job losses in 2024, as well as several smaller-sized firms. Experts say the impact of Artificial Intelligence is being felt and warn it is affecting jobs previously considered safe. Some commentators suggest that technology developers have failed to assess the effect of innovation on employment prospects.
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