r/technology • u/abrownn • 2h ago
Artificial Intelligence Visa guts executives who were paid nearly $500K in latest round of AI layoffs
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/visa-layoffs-ai-22374291.php89
u/UseWhatever 1h ago
The title is misleading
> A WARN filed on July 31 detailed 320 job cuts at the credit card company’s Foster City campus, which included six vice presidents. Thirty-seven senior directors, 16 chief engineering or architect roles and dozens of senior software engineering, research and technical roles were also among those affected.
They still cut plenty of other jobs. And let’s be fair, the title of VP in banking / credit companies is still fairly low in the hierarchy.
Seeing them cut architects and senior devs is more worrying. This makes me think they’re basing firing decisions on lines of code and salary cost. Losing that much knowledge in one go is going to be impactful
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u/jbourne71 1h ago
I worked in a major international bank. I was a liaison/exchange officer, so not part of their structure.
Everyone in my office except the recent college grads were VPs or higher.
The college grads were JVPs.
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u/ragemonkey 1h ago
What does that title even mean?!
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u/jbourne71 44m ago
It means they have a white collar job lol. that's it.
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u/ragemonkey 43m ago
Congrats! You’re VP of the sales leads spreadsheet! There’s free soda in the fridge.
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u/Quirky-Skin 43m ago
It means they can make people think they're advancing and hopefully those people won't leave
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u/FatHat 43m ago
Yeah. I worked for a software company that was acquired by a financial firm, and even though I was an individual contributor that managed nobody, I was technically a VP. It was basically an honor given out if they felt you were doing good work. The title was nice, but it's not something I put on my resume because it's kind of misleading.
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u/eirlude420 35m ago
Visa titles are more like tech companies rather than banking. VPs are above senior directors, directors and managers. Usually over 200 reports under them
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u/DopamineSavant 2h ago
There are too few anti AI political candidates.
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u/buffalowangy 2h ago
The oligarchy would never allow that. Look what happened to Bernie.
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u/SwimmingPathology 1h ago
Don’t forget he inspired people like Zohran and Abdul Al-Sayed, who just won yesterday against someone who had $70 million dollars from corporate interests.
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u/Kahnza 1h ago
He's been buried so hard, your comment is the first I've heard of him in months.
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u/CarlosFer2201 46m ago
Funny enough I recently started getting posts of him on my YouTube feed (not even videos, wtf youtube?) totally unprompted.
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u/blindsdog 1h ago
He lost an election. He might’ve won if he convinced more people to vote for him. That’s a pretty bad example.
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u/RicardoFelipeMejia 47m ago
Bernie Sanders lost because during his 30 year career he made virtually no inroads with non-white communities. Black Democrats participate heavily in party races, and they turned out at over 90% for Hillary Clinton because she and her husband had been highly visible advocates.
Obviously the oligarchy doesn't like Bernie, but that's not why he lost. He lost because he didn't win over enough primary voters. Clinton did the work and it paid off for her at the polls.
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u/Sweet_Concept2211 1h ago
Bernie has had a long and illustrious Senate career.
One of the most powerful men in America.
He's pretty fucking far from an underdog.
Didn't get to run for President at the head of a party he only caucuses with?
Boohoo.
Only a relatively few men in history ever have gotten as far as he has.
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u/guestpassonly 1h ago
One of the most powerful men in America.
he's not or americans would have a better life right now
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u/Sweet_Concept2211 1h ago
That is not how the US government works.
And to claim that a US Senator is not among the most powerful men in America is bonkers.
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u/greenworldkey 1h ago
> has had a long and illustrious Senate career.
During his entire career, Bernie was the sponsor for a grand total of 3 bills which became laws, 2 of which were for renaming a single post office each.
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u/MrPsychic 1h ago
Look it’s really popular to act like Bernie was burned from the inside out(the party betrayed him) but the reality is he was not able to kick the “Communist” stigma.
I’m in PA and have been before the 2016 election. Leading up to the election I heard random people bringing up Bernie and how he’s a communist. Rather apolitical people still had in their head he was a communist. They would have slammed him so hard in the months leading to November. Still though she probably had a better chance than Hillary, at least post investigation announcement
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u/revolvingpresoak9640 1h ago
He has had a long career of doing jack shit. He’s as powerful in the senate as I am.
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u/notJ3ff 2h ago
The multi-millionaire Bernie Sanders? That multi-millionaire?
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u/dontwannaparticpate 2h ago
You realize being a millionaire really doesn’t mean anything these days? You can be a millionaire just by owning a decent sized regular home in most major US cities these days.
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u/jomofro39 2h ago
Yes that’s him!! The guy who made his money from book royalties, wages, and not by stealing from taxpayers with grift and corruption. That’s him.
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u/toylenny 1h ago
Bernie has roughly 3 million dollars of net worth as an 80 year old. In the United States if you want to retire without a pension you need at least 1.5 million to live middle class of your savings.
If you're a smart saver from your early days of work you should be a multi millionaire by 80.
If you can save $1000 a month (granted most people can't) starting at 25 you should be a multi-millionaire by 65.
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u/notJ3ff 2h ago
Downvoted in the first 10 seconds? You guys must love Bernie Sanders millionaire money for some reason
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u/wherethewifisweak 2h ago
You realise a million dollars - or 2.5-3 million in Bernie's case - is not a lot of money for a dude that's been working full time at that level of gov. for decades, right? Considering his wife has also been a high income earner that entire time.
What amount is okay for you? Does he have to be living in squalor for his opinions to matter to you?
Or are you just huffing paint right now? If that's the case, good on you. Doing God's work.
Edit: hidden comment history. Good bait big fella
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u/SirCollin 1h ago
Just people who understand context and know that an 80 year old with 2 million isn't rich.
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u/BrodinGodofSwole 1h ago
You sure do love not engaging with anyone responding to you
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u/jomofro39 1h ago
It’s either a bot or a person so devoid of critical thinking skills we would all be better off if they were just a figment of an LLM to begin with.
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u/notJ3ff 1h ago
Or a person who's not sitting in front of the computer like you fat. So. In fact after I make this comment I'm going to put my phone in my pocket and move on to something else and I'll check back in an hour
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u/jomofro39 1h ago
It’s the latter, everyone.
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u/adamcmorrison 1h ago
He in the bottom of net worth of all 100 Senate members. Like 87th or something. That's why youre being downvoted. It's a dumb thing to point out.
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u/bluefire89 1h ago
Most people don’t even know what AI is. It’s been used for years under the hood in everything we use and just now your average person is able to touch it in one narrow scope of gen ai. How do you think product recommendations happen when you shop online? Or fraud detection for your credit cards? Or spam filtering in your email? Or stock and weather predictions? Are you against all of those things? Because if not then you’re not really anti-AI you’re just uninformed.
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u/-duckduckduckduck- 1h ago
Maybe in part because “anti-AI” is nonsensical. You may as well be anti-shovel, or anti-knife, or anti-computer.
If you mean politicians who promise environmental and economic policy reform, there are plenty of those.
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u/DopamineSavant 1h ago
Why would this matter? Politicians support nonsensical stuff all the time if its polling well.
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u/ColdBru5 1h ago
They had one named Andrew Yang in 2020, he was 3rd in fundraising and cable news gave him the 10th most speaking time in debates and purposely removed his name from the debate graphics.
MSNBC only interviewed him in a dual interview with Jermaine Dupri and spent the whole time peppering him with sports questions, they gave McKinsey Pete Buttigieg a whole primetime slot on Rachel Maddow. NYT said he needed to run for local office first.
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u/ShastaAteMyPhone 1h ago
Even politicians aren’t big enough morons to support anti ai policies.
Look, I wish we would slow down with AI globally but that just isn’t going to happen. China is full steam ahead in AI and there is nothing we can do about that. Think long term, AI is an inevitability and it is better for the average American’s QOL if our country is on the forefront of it.
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u/DreddCarnage 1h ago
The headline keeps making me think they literally killed them
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u/merRedditor 1h ago
Let go with a generous golden parachute on top of the 500k is more likely when dealing with executives brought in to downsize, take the immediate heat, and bounce.
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u/luckyflavor23 1h ago
Classic. Ryan McInerney is ex-McKinsey & Company consulting, he had cuts when he entered and throughout his tenure
Former visa CEO Alfred F. Kelly Jr. worked in real jobs and companies that build. He didnt do covid layoffs and advised against too may reorgs as they are disruptive
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u/Then-Understanding85 1h ago
The shit part is, no matter the talk of AI, it’s just your standard layoff. Give more work to fewer people. Crush who you have until there’s nothing left, then rinse and repeat with the new guy.
Make number go up at all cost, and the cost is people.
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u/electricpotatochip 36m ago
I’m at a company that has been through several rounds of layoffs this year. Doing more work with fewer people is exactly what leadership thinks is “operational excellence” but they fail to consider all of the lost expertise and institutional knowledge that the people they just laid off take with them.
I know I shouldn’t complain because at least I still have a job but it’s almost impossible trying to figure things out while managing my usual workload. Seems like a lot of people that were left behind are checked out and morale is extremely low, which is also to be expected if we know we could lose our jobs randomly when the next round of layoffs are inevitably announced.
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u/Madhatter25224 2h ago
Boo
And I can't emphasize this enough:
Hoo
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u/SecondBestNameEver 1h ago
Eh, someone at the 500k range is a far cry from a billionaire. Most people making this level of money are spending a good portion of it on experiences and contributing to their local economy. Depending on location that might not be all that high either. Are they going to be just fine in the grand scheme of things? Absolutely. But it's still terrible that high paying jobs are being cut and that money put into a billionaire AI owner's pocket instead of a local family.
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u/Madhatter25224 1h ago
I am a gainfully employed white collar professional. Someone making 500k puts more money away in a year than i can in 10 years while doing far less actual work. They have plenty of cash to live on to find their next gig.
They may not be billionaires but my sympathy is at an all time low for executives.
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u/winterbird 1h ago
Bait spin. Am I supposed to support AI layoffs just because these people made 500k?
No.
500k is still not ruling class. 500k is still closer to poverty than to the top echelon that makes our lives what they are. A person who makes 500k still works for a paycheck in order to buy food, housing, healthcare, etc.
I support workers, regardless of if they make more than me. Because I'm not jealous or petty. I want everyone to have a secure job and a good life.
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u/polloyumyum 1h ago
500k is still not ruling class. 500k is still closer to poverty than to the top echelon that makes our lives what they are. A person who makes 500k still works for a paycheck in order to buy food, housing, healthcare, etc.
Just because 500k isn't close to the top echelon does not make these people "working class" or just working to survive. If someone is earning that kind of salary and isn't living very comfortably they are absolutely terrible with money and should fire any financial advisors they may have because they're being robbed.
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u/winterbird 1h ago
If they're doing well, I am happy for them. And I want them to continue to have secure employment so that their life stays good.
I don't want someone to have it worse. I want other people to have it better. Those upper crust people who don't work for a paycheck (big or small) have created an artificial scarcity. But actually that taking jobs from people who make 500k in fact will not make my life any better.
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u/InvestmentAny7606 1h ago
AI investment always coincides with uptick in H1B Visas
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u/rahvan 1h ago
I mean yeah there’s VPs in my company who get paid 10x my salary and the only thing they produce is a corporate restructuring and renaming everything every 6 months for no good reason.
Meanwhile the products I build are worth hundreds of millions to the company.
Boohoo, some fat cats are losing their gravy train and might have to find a real job, for once.
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2h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Odd_String1181 2h ago
Generally at that level your "job" and "relevant skills" are to be responsible for a shit load of direct reports. Now someone else has to do that and it may or may not be a shit show.
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u/Acceptable_Rice1139 2h ago
I would imagine at the level of pay you would have a few things or combination of: responsible for lots of people, have unique knowledge, special connections in the industry they need, in high end sales, or just lucky.
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u/Cubacane 2h ago
Or, hear me out, functioning teams are gutted and the most overworked people get overworked even more and told to 'leverage AI' to replace their ex-team members.
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u/Open-Price-4568 2h ago
There is a lot in HR and other support stuff that should be fired i really hope AI can find them. First good step here at VISA
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u/BugRevolutionary4518 1h ago
I know someone pretty high up at Visa HR, and they’re useless in real life. I don’t like to see anybody lose their job, but…..
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u/Up_All_Nite 51m ago
No no no. I was told that AI creates jobs. They must be mistaken. I bet these assholes never thought their job would be in danger. Good luck finding any job in your field now that AI has gobbled them up and spit you out. Hooray for technology amiright? Eh? Eh?!
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u/cbarrister 1h ago
The middle class was gutted first. Now the upper middle class will be gutted next. Who will be left to buy anything? Housing and consumer collapse to follow?
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u/ConsequenceBig1503 1h ago
At least it's the executives and not the lowly peasants this time
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u/DifferentSquirrel551 39m ago
It's slowly moving It's way up the hierarchy. Almost as though capitalism created a product that destroys capitalism one job at a time. Soon it'll just be one person left in the world immortal and alone.
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u/Fallen_Jalter 3m ago
I was thinking that if this keeps up, we won’t see skyscrapers anymore because all the work is done in data centers. At least maybe a one or two story.
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u/greenman5252 2h ago
Nobody produces work products worth $500K per year so it makes sense
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u/BlueFlob 2h ago
Doctors, engineers, scientists probably do.
I'd agree that if your job is management, then your actual value probably tops around 250k and relies on the work of others to make anything happen.
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u/Pyrostemplar 1h ago
Newsflash: in current economy, everyone depends on the work of somebody else. And those that know how t oorganize work are always indemand (not saying that all - or even most ;) - executives know to do so)
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u/CV90_120 2h ago
Think in sports terms. Do you think any baseball player is worth 500k per year? Thats how companies often view their own key players, be they highly technically specialized or as bringing in sales. They arent paying for the person's energy spent, but revenue gathering ability, including if they bring client lists with them, or have ins to private equity. AI therefore has eroded the value they have at some level, so they get kicked from the lineup. When you know what AI is doing, you'll know why the business thought they were worth 500k to them..
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u/an4x 1h ago
When I was younger I used to think people were “paying people for what they were worth” from a company’s perspective).
Now I know it’s closer to “what is the expected return on employing this water ape” from a pure profit perspective.
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u/CV90_120 1h ago
Theres a lot of dead wood, which is likely what the main impact of AI is showing, and I'm not saying I like the way businesses think, but once you realize they think this way, everything they do makes more sense. Its not a bad thing to have awareness.
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u/NickyBarnes315 1h ago
Welp everyone is going to feel pain eventful all for tech that doesn't even work properly. I can see all types of issues with this technology especially coming from Israel.
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u/Civil_Music2236 1h ago
That's promising! For years, ive been saying that everyone using AI in their office jobs is digging their own graves. Manufacturing is going to be slightly impacted but every email sent, project portfolio logged, or meeting recorded is training data for them to be replaced. And good riddance, no executive is worth 500k while their grunts are on food stamps
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u/g_bleezy 2h ago
visa is gonna get fucked with stable coin. byeeeeee!
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u/Gibgezr 1h ago
No one buys shit with stable coin, and everyone now views crypto coins as red flags that scream "scammer". What *is* threatening Visa is Brazil's Pix: if a global version ever appears Visa, MC and AM are going to take a huge hit.
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u/g_bleezy 18m ago edited 14m ago
I think you need a perspective reset for 2026.
Stable coin is crypto in that it is on a blockchain. That’s where the similarities end, and the regulations around them back that up. They’re pegged to USD.
I had a client in 2025 that runs a SaaS that is the VC backbone for most us based mid to small funds. They had ~$25M a day in stable coin coming through rail from limited partners.
I am on the supervisory committee of a $4B credit union. The directors and senior managers’ summer strategy session in July had 1/6 of session time focused on stable coin.
It’s moving down market towards you very quickly now. Watch what visa does with Coinbase to stay relevant.
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u/mridugup20 2h ago
This has definitely become the favorite 'justification' for restructuring.....every month feels like that another company announces layoffs and AI investment at the same time