Intuit cuts 3,000 jobs while CEO insists workforce reduction had nothing to do with AI

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Financial software company Intuit is laying off 17% of its workforce—roughly 3,000 employees—as it seeks to streamline operations and invest in AI capabilities. But CEO Sasan Goodarzi firmly denies the cuts are driven by automation, instead blaming organizational complexity and excess management layers. The move comes as Intuit's stock has fallen 41% this year amid concerns traditional software firms can't compete in the AI era.

Intuit Layoffs Impact 3,000 Employees Worldwide

Financial software company Intuit announced it will lay off approximately 3,000 employees, representing 17% of its global workforce of 18,200 people, according to an internal memo sent by CEO Sasan Goodarzi

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. The maker of TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp revealed the Intuit layoffs on Wednesday as it reported third-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations, with revenue reaching $8.56 billion and adjusted earnings of $12.80 per share

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Source: New York Post

Source: New York Post

The workforce reduction will cost Intuit approximately $340 million in restructuring charges, primarily from severance payments

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. Affected U.S. employees will receive a severance package consisting of 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year at Intuit, with July 31 marking their last day

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. The company is also winding down its Reno and Woodland Hills offices as part of strategic restructuring to consolidate teams in key hubs

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Source: ET

Source: ET

CEO Insists Workforce Cut Had Nothing to Do with AI

Despite announcing plans to refocus on AI, Sasan Goodarzi emphatically stated the cuts were not driven by artificial intelligence replacing workers. "None of it had to do with AI," Goodarzi told CNBC's Jim Cramer on "Mad Money." "Everything was about how do we become more effective"

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. This assertion comes at a critical moment when 114,173 tech workers have been laid off in 2026 so far, according to Layoffs.fyi, with companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon announcing thousands of job cuts while simultaneously ramping up AI investments

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Instead, Goodarzi attributed the decision to streamline operations by addressing three specific areas: reducing management layers to accelerate decision-making, eliminating "coordination-heavy roles" such as project managers and business operations staff, and removing duplicative functions after integrating Credit Karma and TurboTax more closely together

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. The CEO also mentioned resizing Mailchimp in the context of growth opportunities ahead

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Simplifying Organizational Structure to Build Faster

Goodarzi framed Intuit to cut 17% of global jobs as part of creating a "faster, leaner and more focused company" with a "builder culture"

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. The company identified that excessive management layers were slowing innovation and creating information flow bottlenecks. By flattening the organizational structure, Intuit aims to "push decision-making to our frontline folks that are the builders," according to the CEO

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The restructuring reflects what Goodarzi described as a "Day One mentality"—asking what the company would do if starting fresh today

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. He emphasized three priorities: scaling growth engines like assisted tax, money, and mid-market services that are all growing above 30%; reimagining DIY tax services for customers earning less than $50,000; and operating with greater velocity and discipline

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AI Strategy Amid Stock Decline and Market Pressure

Intuit's shares have fallen roughly 41% this year, significantly underperforming the broader S&P 500

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. The company faces investor concerns that traditional SaaS firms cannot compete as new AI products threaten to change how software is developed and used

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. To address this, Intuit has signed multi-year deals with AI startups Anthropic and OpenAI to integrate their models into its software and add Intuit's personalized capabilities into Claude and ChatGPT

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Source: TechCrunch

Source: TechCrunch

Yet Goodarzi pushed back against fears that Large Language Models could replace Intuit's core offerings. "You can't run your business with an LLM because you're managing your books, you're managing your money, you're managing your payroll and accuracy and compliance of doing that matters," he explained. He noted that "people spend seven times more on tax and accounting experts as they do on software, because people don't buy code, they buy confidence"

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. The CEO argued that accuracy and compliance requirements for high-stakes financial decisions give Intuit a defensible position against AI disruption

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Financial Performance and Industry Context

Despite the workforce reduction, Intuit reported strong financial results. In its fiscal second quarter ended January, the company posted revenue of $4.65 billion, a 17% increase, and net profit of $693 million, a 48% improvement year-over-year

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. Goodarzi indicated that savings from the restructuring would primarily drive margin expansion and earnings-per-share growth, with a smaller portion allocated to scaling growth engines

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Intuit joins over 140 tech companies that have laid off more than 111,000 employees this year, according to Layoffs.fyi

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. Companies including Amazon, Block, Cisco, Cloudflare, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle have all announced significant cuts while citing the need to refocus expenditures around AI projects

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. Notably, CEO Goodarzi's salary was worth $36.8 million, including cash incentives and stock awards, during fiscal 2025, though the company did not comment on whether management would take pay cuts

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