Pamela DiMarzio on LinkedIn: Intuit to lay off 1,800 employees, labels 1,050 as 'underperformers' (2024)

Yet another disgusting example of a corporation failing their employees in the worst way and then lying about their role in the process. 1050 of 1800 laid off were labeled as “underperforming”. Intuitwas very quick to publicly label this layoff group and yet, “When asked, the company declined to comment on when those expectations were raised, or how long employees were given to improve performance before the layoffs“Anyone in POps knows that PIPs are bullshit to begin with, but the above quote tells me everything I need to know about the effort Intuit spent on these employees - a big fat goose egg. Not only that, but 750 people in the layoff group now have to fight the accusation that they had poor performance, which likely wasn’t the case for the individuals or the group as a whole.Moral of the story is, own your mistakes Intuit. Maybe you overhired, maybe you set impossible goals, maybe your managers weren’t trained properly, maybe you misread the economic signs, but you DID fail these employees, and I would bet their combined salaries that underperformance was the scapegoat you chose and slander the weapon you wielded. I hope these employees sue you.https://lnkd.in/gYVKijqu

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We live in an ironic world, where employees are encouraged to adopt “euphemisms” and stay away from speaking against bad leadership, bad company culture, toxic teammates, and what not. Yet, a huge MNC like Intuit, publicly labeled it’s laid-off employees as “underperformers”.This reminds me of a recent conversation I had with someone who has joined the workforce recently and wanted to switch. He asked me “Is it ever acceptable to spill the truth to recruiters and hiring managers on why you are leaving? Can I simply be honest and tell them that I am leaving because of toxic company culture and morally corrupt leadership?”There is publicly available data from top notch researchers on reasons why people underperform, and there are many strongly-correlated reasons for underperforming that are unrelated to the individual. Why the irony? Why are we living this irony? How do we solve this convoluted problem?

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Intuit has had a history being Evil. First it was Intuit's customers who faced the wrath of the company's evil policies through which they tries to make a dime on every opportunity exploiting the vulnerability of the customers. There are countless tales of horror on multiple sun reddits and other forums where customers are recounting how Intuit slapped them with bills on some ridiculous service they never wanted or how they collect enormous amount of personal data about their customers and never share it with them or take their approval to do so. This one just takes the cake away. Firing someone over incompetence and declaring it publicly makes them come close to Monsanto Company the world's most evil company 😈 This must be the worst leadership in technology as of now. My sympathies lie with all the affected employees. #intuit #business #technology #startups #jobs #careers #leadership

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Intuit should burn. Their business model has led them to lobby against simplified tax laws, costing workers their own time and money within and outside of their own company. They acquired and shuttered my favorite finance tracking app. And generally-speaking they exist in a space that no other advanced country is inflicted with as a parasite. This layoff behavior is awful but demonstrative of the company’s disregard for the dignity and well-being of people in general. I hope those laid off folks can find new jobs and I hope everyone in the job market remembers this move anytime Intuit comes knocking and trying to hire again in the future.I expect that the IRS will continue to make life better for taxpayers, costing Intuit their value-proposition under their current business model.

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Performance should be assessed and addressed, not used as a convenient scapegoat for organisational changes.Labelling laid off employees as “underperformers” undermines their contributions and can tarnish their reputations. If you’ve been affected by the Intuit layoff, the problem isn’t your performance. The problem is how leadership is functioning.

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The most disturbing thing I've encountered today on the internet is how easy it is for companies to label someone as 'underperformers' and brutally lay them off, demonstrating a lack of empathy, professionalism, and collaborative work culture. Performance depends on numerous factors such as skills, knowledge, and motivation, but equally crucial is the work culture and environment. Many employees dedicate their lives passionately to their firms, only to find themselves labeled as 'underperformers' and laid off, burdened with mortgages, installments, financial worries, and the unpredictability of it all.I wish strength to each of them and hope they find a way to stay resilient amidst this brutality.Imagine this is ~10% of their workforce 🤯

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Such a great take. If this isn’t illegal, it needs to be. It’s time the US get actual labour laws, layoffs for profit should be criminal… because it’s the failure of management and a tool used to pubish the worker. This is completely a reflection on failed management. Why were so many so called under performers hired? Why did your cuclture accommodate underperformance? How many of those laid off were management? Any folks from Intuit or others job searching, please let us know how we can help. For folks reading this, reach out to someone looking for work and offer to help.

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Organisations are complex systems. Performance is heavily context dependent as needs differ between organisations. Many organisations don't even have clear expectations to be able to assess poor performance, relying instead on gut feel and first impressions that are hard to change. Even when someone has been objectively underperforming, and assuming you've done everything you can to support them, layoffs shouldn't be used (deliberately or otherwise) as punishment.

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Well-said, both by Erika and the OP, Jonothan. It's a curious - and disappointing - move by Intuit. Layoffs are a tool to help manage lots of challenges and optimize balance sheets, and anyone in a corporate role likely knows that. It is what it is. But the added "most were underperformers" subtext seems particularly cruel. The stigma around layoffs is surprising and significant already...why make it worse, and likely alienate a large cohort of people against your brand, company and culture? I would also argue that if there were actually that many clear "underperformers" in their system, there's likely a bigger, systemic management issue at play as well. #leadership #strategy #layoffs #intuit

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Intuit openly labeling the people it laid off today as being “underperformers” is one of the most purely evil things I’ve ever seen in Tech.This will make it so much harder for the folks who were laid off to find new jobs, no matter what their performance was like. The high-performers they laid off will be punished in the market just as much as the low-performers because of this announcement.Under-performing isn’t a mortal sin. It’s not a crime to punish. It can happen for many reasons that aren’t the fault of the employee: poor leadership, unclear expectations, unreasonable workloads, lack of training, conflicting incentives, bad partners…But there are a lot of unprincipled employers who won’t consider the context. They’ll see Intuit’s announcement and avoid anyone who stopped working for them in July 2024.I get it: capitalism is gonna capitalism. Companies aren’t families. They’re going to do layoffs and whatever else they think will increase shareholder value.But they don’t need to kick people when they’re down or permanently damage their careers.Shame on you, Intuit.https://lnkd.in/e8EX2DNJ

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