A Message from Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi to Intuit Employees

Earlier today, Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi sent the following note to Intuit employees:

Hi team,

Sixteen months ago we refreshed our strategy to become an AI-driven expert platform and declared five big bets that are grounded in our customers’ biggest problems. We  began transforming the company to revolutionize customer experiences and moving into new spaces. Thanks to you, we have momentum in creating a brighter future.

We are now facing a fundamental shift as the pace of change has dramatically increased. More customers are looking for virtual solutions, small businesses are accelerating their shift to omni-channel commerce, and money benefits and offerings matter more than ever.

We are playing offense and taking the necessary steps to lead this change. Speed matters more than ever, and the acceleration of change means we need to increase the velocity of our transformation. At Intuit, our willingness to reinvent and transform the company from a position of strength has been our hallmark for more than three decades. With customer needs rapidly evolving and competitors aiming to disrupt us, we need to act now and with urgency.

As CEO, it’s my responsibility to ensure we make decisions that set Intuit up for success, not just for today but for the future. Sometimes the necessary decisions are the most difficult ones, and this is certainly one of those times.

Today, we’re announcing a series of changes across the company that will accelerate our transformation and increase our velocity by re-balancing our investments. Regrettably, these changes will impact 715 of our friends and co-workers. Departures are never easy, and those leaving have done great work for Intuit and I am deeply grateful for their service and contributions.

To align us for the acceleration we need for the future, we will invest in our most strategic areas, and plan to add more than 700 roles to build the capabilities needed as we look ahead. Even though these are decisions we need to make for the future of Intuit, I know they come at an incredibly tough time for those who have been impacted. It is with a heavy heart that I communicate these changes, and I want to be very clear with everyone how we reached these decisions and what we’re doing to take care of our friends and co-workers who will be leaving the company.

How we made these decisions:

We were guided by our core values and these three principles:

• Focus on Big Bets: ensure we have the skills needed and investment levels required to deliver against our vision for each big bet.
• Prioritize the Most Important Work: determine what work should be deprioritized or eliminated.
• Act with Compassion: treat all affected employees with compassion and go above and beyond in every aspect possible to ease their transition.

Almost a year and half into our journey of transforming the company, we now have much more clarity on where we need to invest to accelerate change and the skills we need. There are three critical areas of the company where we will be driving the biggest changes:

• In our Technology organization we must increase our investment in key engineering skills such as systems engineering, full-stack engineering, data science, data engineering, mobile, and native cloud to help us increase our speed of innovation and enable us to build an AI-driven expert platform.
• In Customer Success, we must change the way we work and acquire the skills necessary to deliver improved customer experiences in areas such as self help, Live platform (QuickBooks and TurboTax), QBO Advanced, Full Service Payroll, and Accountant support, while also acquiring skills to modernize our operations such as process engineers, system analysts, and workforce analysts to improve our efficiency.
• In Sales, we must transform into a world-class SaaS organization by working to simplify and focus each sales interaction. We must invest in the skills to target new mid-market customers while automating and outsourcing simpler sales interactions and up-leveling skills to build a new partner/VAR ecosystem to serve the mid-market.

As I’ve shared before, while we increase our investments in the above areas, we must be intentional about where we need to change the way we work or eliminate work that is not critical to the future of Intuit. We took a careful review of the company, looking for redundancies in tools, systems and for roles that were not aligned to where we are investing for the future. This has resulted in the painful decision to part with 715 friends and co-workers who were notified today that their jobs have been impacted.

Recently, in our town halls and State of the Company meeting, you’ve asked me about layoffs, and I’ve said that we will never do any layoffs to make any short term goals or to achieve any financial numbers. I’ve also shared that we will always evaluate and align our investments to meet the changing needs of our customers. With the pace of change in today’s world, it’s critical that we act now. We are taking these actions to transform our capabilities and ensure that we’re able deliver for customers, both now and into the future.

What we are doing for those leaving:

There is never a good time for eliminating roles and re-balancing our investments. With all that is going on in the world today, it’s not an easy time for anyone to be starting a new chapter. Those impacted are our co-workers and friends, and we are committed to treating everyone in a compassionate and thoughtful way.

We have committed to offering extended transition periods, enhanced severance and healthcare packages, mental health resources, job search assistance and enhanced immigration support.

• Severance: All employees will receive a package that includes a minimum of four weeks of pay, plus two additional weeks for every year of service. Employees in the US will also have a 60-day extended transition period, with an exit date of August 21, though their last day working in their current role will vary. This allows everyone leaving to reach their July vesting date for Restricted Stock Units and the July 31 eligibility date for annual IPI bonuses or July or Q4 incentives for those not on an IPI plan.
• Health Care: We will pay for at least four months of health insurance coverage. Everyone leaving will also have access to the Employee Assistance Program to help with mental health support during the transition period and for four months after they leave.
• Job Support: Each impacted employee will have access to six months of career transition and job placement services through RiseSmart. Services include resume development, interviewing techniques, and recruiting and job search help. We’re also allowing everyone to keep their work laptops.
• Immigration Support: For those that need immigration support, the extended transition period will allow individuals on visas extra time to look for other roles. Intuit will also provide access to external immigration experts for advice and support at no cost.

What happens next:

You will hear from my staff about the specific changes to your organization, and at the end of the day, we will share all of these emails on SNAP. In addition, we will host two town halls to provide you with an opportunity to ask questions. You can submit any questions you have for me on slido.

Today is a difficult day, especially for those of you who have been impacted. Our hearts go out to you, and we are fully committed to doing all we can to support you through your transition. We know you will continue to deliver awesome in your next chapter.

For everyone else, we are acting today to accelerate our transformation. We are building on our momentum and re-balancing investments that will empower us to lead in a changing world. We have an amazing opportunity to transform ourselves, develop game changing capabilities, and revolutionize the way we solve our customers’ most important problems to power their prosperity.

Thank you team.

Sasan