Intuit Cuts 1,800 Jobs but Plans to Hire the Same Number in New Roles

Intuit, a company that makes financial software used by millions of small business owners and individuals, has laid off 1,800 employees — that's 10% of its workforce. But there's an unusual twist: the company says it will immediately hire the same number of people for different jobs.

CEO Sasan Goodarzi explained the move in a message to staff. He said the company is not cutting costs but rather shifting where it invests its money. The new hiring will focus on marketing, engineering (the people who build the software), and customer-facing roles.

What Employees Get

The 1,800 laid-off workers receive a severance package. Each person gets a minimum of 16 weeks of pay, plus two extra weeks for each year they worked at the company. They also get six months of health insurance and access to career counseling and job placement help.

For someone who worked at Intuit for five years, this package would add up to roughly six months of total pay — a fairly generous approach by industry standards.

Why This Isn't a Simple Cost Cut

Intuit is clear that this restructuring is not about saving money. If a company really wanted to cut costs, it would lay off employees and then stop hiring. Instead, Intuit is laying off in some areas and hiring in others.

This is a bit like a restaurant closing its dining room to renovate, then reopening with a redesigned kitchen and expanded takeout operation. The workforce size stays roughly the same, but the skills and focus shift.

I have watched similar moves before, back in the 2000s and early 2010s when established software companies had to reinvent themselves around cloud computing. They would shuffle their teams, moving people out of areas focused on older technology and bringing in people with new skills — all while keeping total headcount relatively stable.

What Intuit Needs Now

The emphasis on hiring engineers signals that Intuit wants to build more advanced software capabilities. Specifically, financial software companies are under pressure to add artificial intelligence — the technology that can automate tedious tasks like categorizing expenses or flagging suspicious transactions.

The focus on customer-facing roles — think support staff and account managers — suggests Intuit wants to improve how it serves its users. As financial software gets more complex, people often need hands-on help learning and using it.

Intuit faces real competition. Startups and other companies are chipping away at QuickBooks (Intuit's accounting software) and TurboTax (its tax software). To stay ahead, the company needs the latest technical tools and a better relationship with its customers.

The Tricky Part

Pulling off this kind of reorganization is difficult. When companies quickly change who works there, they sometimes lose important knowledge and institutional memory — the understanding of how things actually work that lives in people's heads.

Finding enough skilled engineers, especially ones trained in artificial intelligence, is expensive and competitive right now. Intuit will have to pay a premium to attract that talent.

There's also the morale question. When employees hear about large layoffs, even ones paired with hiring announcements, they often worry about their own job security. The generous severance package may help keep some of that worry in check, but it's still a disruptive event.

The Broader Picture

Financial software companies are all grappling with the same shifts. They're moving toward mobile-first design, adding automation, and relying less on selling licenses and more on subscription models where customers pay monthly.

They also face tighter rules around data privacy and security — financial data is sensitive, so companies need specialized expertise to handle it correctly.

Intuit's decision to maintain overall headcount while reshaping which roles it needs is a bet that the company will grow revenue in the years ahead. It's a confidence signal, but it also puts pressure on management to execute well. The next few quarters will show whether this bet pays off.