Autodesk, a US-based software company that develops design, engineering, and manufacturing tools used across architecture, construction, manufacturing, and media, is reducing its global workforce by approximately 7%, affecting around 1,000 roles. The decision was communicated internally by chief executive Andrew Anagnost and is linked to the completion of a multi-year reorganization of the company’s go-to-market operations. Most of the impact will fall on customer-facing sales teams.
The workforce reduction follows a two-year effort to modernize Autodesk’s go-to-market structure. According to the company, the changes are primarily tied to the final phase of that transformation, which focused on sales optimization. Leadership said this phase is now essentially complete, leaving the company with what it describes as a more efficient organizational foundation. Autodesk stated that the decision was not driven by external economic conditions and was not intended to replace employees with artificial intelligence.
In the internal message, Anagnost outlined three strategic priorities behind the restructuring. Completion of the go-to-market transformation accounted for the majority of the job reductions. Additional changes are intended to support further investment in artificial intelligence, platform development, and industry cloud capabilities, areas Autodesk said it has already built a foundation in. A third priority involves realigning corporate functions to ensure they remain scalable and capable of supporting ongoing business transformation. The company did not specify which corporate teams would be affected by these adjustments.
Employees whose roles may be impacted will begin receiving notifications starting January 22. Communication will come from leaders within each employee’s management chain, though the timing and process will vary by country. In some regions, local labor laws require a consultative process before final decisions are made. Autodesk said impacted employees will receive severance, continued benefits for a defined period, and career transition assistance where applicable.
Addressing remaining employees, Anagnost acknowledged the difficulty of the decision, particularly following organizational changes implemented last year. He said leadership does not expect workforce reductions to become a recurring process. The restructuring, he wrote, reflects a deliberate effort to align the company with its long-term strategy and prepare for what Autodesk describes as the next phase of its business. Referencing remarks made at the company’s Investor Day, Anagnost said Autodesk’s largest growth opportunities remain ahead and expressed confidence in the organization’s long-term direction.
Autodesk workforce reductions during platform and business model transitions
Autodesk has previously reduced its workforce during periods of internal business model transition rather than in response to external market downturns. In 2016, the company announced plans to lay off approximately 10% of its workforce, affecting around 925 employees, as part of a restructuring tied to its shift from perpetual software licenses to a cloud-based, subscription model. Then-CEO Carl Bass said the move was intended to concentrate resources on accelerating the transition to the cloud and was not related to macroeconomic conditions, citing continued revenue growth and strong subscription demand during fiscal 2016. The restructuring was framed as a response to structural limits in Autodesk’s existing operating model rather than a decline in customer demand.
Autodesk’s platform consolidation efforts have continued to shape its organizational priorities in subsequent years. In 2025, UK-based metal 3D printing company Wayland Additive integrated its Calibur3 electron beam powder bed fusion system into the Autodesk Fusion machine library, enabling an end-to-end build preparation workflow within Fusion. Announced in November, the integration addressed workflow fragmentation by allowing design modification, support generation, and slicing to be carried out in a single software environment using parameters developed for Wayland’s NeuBeam process. Presented at Formnext 2025, the collaboration reflected Autodesk’s emphasis on platform integration as a constraint-driven response to disconnected software ecosystems in advanced manufacturing, rather than an expansion into hardware or machine operation.
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Featured image shows 3D Additive Arrange in Autodesk Fusion. Image via Autodesk.
