Jan 22 (Reuters) - Design software maker Autodesk said on Thursday it would shed about 7% of its global workforce, or roughly 1,000 jobs, as it aims to redirect spending to its cloud platform and artificial intelligence efforts. The company, which offers tools used in movies and games to create 3D animation, visual effects and manage production, said the reductions would mostly impact its customer-facing sales teams. The announcement pushed shares up more than 3%, buoying a stock that was little changed last year and has made a weak start to 2026 with a drop of 13% so far. Autodesk had about 15,300 employees as of January 31, 2025. It said the restructuring is the "final phase of its sales and marketing optimization," an effort to streamline customer engagement and enhance sales channels to drive sustainable growth and operating margin expansion. The company has been shifting to a subscription and usage-based transaction model from a traditional channel-centric sales model, aiming to strengthen customer relationships and boost pricing control and sales. Autodesk now expects billings, revenue, adjusted operating margin, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 and full year to exceed the top end of its previously issued forecasts. It estimates total pre-tax restructuring charges of about $135 million to $160 million, primarily due to employee termination benefits, according to a regulatory filing. The company, which provides software such as AutoCAD and competes with Adobe and PTC, expects to complete the restructuring plan by the end of its fourth quarter of fiscal 2027. Layoffs.fyi, a website tracking tech job cuts, estimated that more than 123,000 employees were laid off from 269 companies in 2025. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar) (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
