https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/visa-layoffs-huge-record-profit-19944933.php
The cuts come amid record profits at Visa. During the company’s 2024 fiscal year, which ended in September, Visa turned a $19.7 billion profit on $35.9 billion in revenue — an enviable margin in the corporate world. The successful financial year has driven Visa’s market cap up almost 20% since January; at a $603 billion valuation, the company is one of the 20 largest public firms in America.
San Francisco’s Visa, the incredibly profitable payments company that was recently hit with a monopoly lawsuit by the Justice Department, is laying off hundreds of Bay Area workers.The credit and debit giant announced the new cuts last Thursday in a WARN document, as is generally required in the event of mass staff reductions. The notice lists 192 layoffs in San Mateo and 10 at Visa’s headquarters in Mission Bay. They add to the 91 Bay Area layoffs that Visa previously announced in a WARN from early November.
Both rounds of November cuts slashed workers from Visa’s upper management. The first, per a Nov. 1 document, included four senior vice presidents and 17 vice presidents, 17 senior directors and 17 directors. Last Thursday’s layoffs hit two senior vice presidents, five vice presidents, 29 senior directors and 23 directors. Dozens of engineers and technical program managers also lost their jobs in the latest round. Already, a few laid-off Visa workers have flocked to LinkedIn with posts looking for new job leads and reminiscing on their careers at the company.
The WARNs seem to confirm October reporting from the Wall Street Journal, which said that Visa was planning to lay off 1,400 employees and contractors by the end of the year, with about 1,000 of those workers in technology roles. The payments company, in a September filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said it had about 31,600 employees.
Visa spokesperson Fletcher Cook told SFGATE on Tuesday that the new cuts are part of those reported by the Journal but didn’t confirm the 1,400 total. She added that laid off workers will be offered severance packages and counseling and outplacement services.
“We expect to grow the number of employees at Visa this year, next year, and for the foreseeable future,” Cook wrote. “However, we continuously evolve our operating model to better serve clients and accelerate innovation and growth, which can lead to the elimination of some roles.”“We believe the lawsuit is meritless and shows a clear lack of understanding of the payments ecosystem in the United States,” McInerney said. “We will defend ourselves vigorously and are confident in our ability to demonstrate that Visa competes for every transaction in a thriving debit space that continues to grow and see new entrants.”
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It’s also got a major legal problem. In September, the Justice Department announced a civil antitrust suit against Visa, alleging that the company wields its vast scale to illegally maintain a monopoly in the debit sector. Attorney General Merrick Garland accused Visa of forcing higher costs on merchants and banks, which are then passed along to consumers. The Justice Department already blocked a merger between Visa and San Francisco tech startup Plaid in 2021 with another antitrust complaint.
Cook, writing to SFGATE Thursday, defended Visa by saying there’s an “ever-expanding universe of companies offering new ways to pay for goods and services” and touted Visa’s network as secure and reliable, not monopolistic. It’s a statement similar to the one Visa CEO Ryan McInerney gave in an October earnings call.