New Delhi: Visa has announced a global workforce reduction of around 2,600 employees, or nearly 7 percent of its staff, as the company accelerates its artificial intelligence strategy. The restructuring has also impacted employees in India, where many reportedly learned about the layoffs through early morning emails.
According to reports, several employees in India received termination notices between 4 am and 5 am on July 29. By the start of the workday, many had already lost access to their jobs. While Visa has not disclosed how many India based employees were affected, the company has more than 3,500 employees across technology and corporate hubs in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
Reports indicate that the layoffs affected employees across different levels, including senior directors, engineering managers and long serving professionals. Those impacted were offered severance packages and notice periods ranging from 15 to 30 days, although some reportedly lost access to company systems within days and were required to return company devices.
Visa has said the restructuring is aimed at improving efficiency and shifting investments toward high growth areas, particularly artificial intelligence. Chief Executive Officer Ryan McInerney has outlined the company’s focus on agentic AI, systems capable of performing complex tasks with limited human supervision, marking a significant shift in how technology work is expected to be carried out.
Unlike companies facing financial distress, Visa continues to report strong business performance, supported by resilient consumer spending and its transaction based business model. The latest job cuts are therefore seen as part of a long term strategic transformation rather than a response to weakening demand.
The layoffs have raised concerns within India’s technology sector, where global firms have established large engineering and product development centres over the years. Industry observers believe the move reflects a broader trend of companies reassessing workforce requirements as AI becomes increasingly integrated into business operations.
Visa’s announcement follows similar restructuring initiatives across the technology and financial sectors. Companies including Mastercard, Block, Amazon, Cloudflare, Atlassian and Standard Chartered have also announced workforce reductions while increasing investments in artificial intelligence and automation, signalling a wider shift in how businesses are preparing for the next phase of digital transformation.
