AI really is taking away jobs, just not in the way you might think.
What happened: Intuit, the maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks, is laying off 1,800 workers as part of a restructuring plan, which includes closing its office in Edmonton. The kicker? It plans to hire at least 1,8000 employees next fiscal year as it incorporates more AI.
- Intuit will hire primarily in engineering, product, and customer-facing roles. CEO Sasan Goodarzi also said many of the laid-off employees were those failing to meet the heightened expectations. (Jeez, talk about kicking someone while they’re down.)
Why it matters: Intuit is just the latest name on a growing list of companies that enacted layoffs with AI in mind. Google and SAP each conducted significant restructuring, including layoffs, this year as they continue AI pushes. Last week Microsoft shed more jobs, on top of the 1,000 cloud and mixed reality workers laid off in June, as it builds up its new AI division.
Zoom out: It’s a good time to have AI expertise (or at least appear to have it). While it seems nobody is getting a raise these days, chief information and technology officers are. Compensation for the roles once considered the ugly ducklings of the C-suite is up 20% since 2019.—QH