The payment service provider Visa is cutting 320 jobs at its headquarters in Foster City, California, according to a government report – part of a global reduction of 2,600 positions. Six vice presidents and 37 senior directors are also affected. CEO Ryan McInerney cites the increased use of artificial intelligence as one of the reasons for the restructuring in an internal memo.
Government report quantifies the reduction at the US headquarters
Visa submitted the report on July 31 to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), as indicated by the WARN report published by law firms. The underlying WARN Act requires US companies to officially notify larger layoffs at least 60 days in advance. The layoffs in Foster City will take effect on October 1. Of the 320 affected positions, six are vice presidents and 37 are senior directors. An additional 16 positions involve senior engineering and architect roles, while the rest are spread across software development and technical research. Previously advertised vice president positions at this location were valued with annual salaries between $235,700 and $458,000. The reduction in Foster City is part of a global job cut of around 2,600 positions, just over seven percent of the last approximately 34,000 employees. According to reports about an internal memo from McInerney, the move primarily affects technology and product teams worldwide, not just the Foster City location. McInerney writes that he has a “deep conviction” that this is the right action for Visa and its customers.
AI investments accompany the austerity measures
Whether artificial intelligence is the main reason for the reduction remains unclear: reports suggest it plays an important but not the sole role. In the earnings report for the third fiscal quarter, McInerney referred to more than 150 internally deployed AI applications. Through so-called agentic team structures, the product development time has reportedly been reduced by 65 percent. The company recorded severance costs of $563 million in the same quarter. Just a few days after the government report, Visa also announced the acquisition of the Israeli fraud detection specialist BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash. BioCatch analyzes typing and mouse behavior as well as the use of AI agents to detect fraud and compromised accounts early. Such fraud cases reportedly cause global damages of more than one trillion dollars annually, according to Visa. Visa thus joins a growing list of companies that justify job cuts with the transition to AI-supported work. Just at the end of July, the software provider Monday.com cut around 620 jobs and took a similar approach. Meanwhile, at Meta, 26 employees are suing over an AI-supported wave of layoffs. They accuse the company of having an internal system that specifically considered parental and caregiving leave – an allegation that Meta denies. So far, there is no comparable lawsuit against Visa.
It will be crucial to see whether the current reduction proves to be a one-time cost-cutting measure or the beginning of a permanent restructuring of the workforce. It also remains to be seen how many of the eliminated roles will be replaced in the medium term by new, AI-related positions.
