According to sources familiar with the matter, Visa intends to fire around 1,400 employees and contractors to advance its strategy to simplify its international business. Initially reported by the Wall Street Journal, the announcement stated that approximately 1,000 of the cuts are projected to remove technology positions, with the majority of the layoffs being focused on Visa’s merchant sales and global digital partnership roles.
The report mentions that a part of the layoffs ensued a week before the news dropped, with Visa encouraging individuals to apply for open positions. However, Visa intends to maintain its workers in the global digital partnership teams employed in their positions through the end of 2024. According to a Visa representative cited by Reuters, the company works towards evolving its operational model to advance its growth, which can in turn lead to the elimination of some roles currently present. Despite this, Visa plans to employ more individuals each year for the foreseeable future, depending on its needs and demands.
Recently, Visa has been facing legal issues and was under scrutiny from regulators, as well as dissatisfied merchants. For example, in September 2024, The US Justice Department sued Visa for monopolising the debit card market, charging significant fees, and inhibiting competition. The civil antitrust lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, charged the company with violating sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act due to more than 60% of debit transactions in the US running on its debit network.
Moreover, Visa was alleged to unlawfully amassed the capability to extract fees that exceeded what it could charge in a competitive market. At the same time, merchants and banks transferred those funds to consumers by scaling prices or by minimising the quality of services. This led to Visa’s conduct negatively impacting the price of everything. The lawsuit was filed to reinstate competition in the market and to support the US public.
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