Published Oct. 6, 2026, at 7:24 p.m. EDT. Fair Isaac Corporation, the company behind the widely used FICO credit score, plans to reduce its workforce by about 15% as it restructures operations and increases its use of artificial intelligence.
The company began notifying employees this week and expects approximately $27 million in pretax charges during its fourth fiscal quarter of 2026, primarily for severance, according to an Oct. 6 Reuters report.
Potential scale and timing
FICO did not give Reuters a precise number of affected positions. The company reported 3,811 employees at the end of September 2025, so a reduction of 15% would equal roughly 570 jobs if applied to that earlier workforce total. The actual number can differ because staffing may have changed.
The plan is expected to be largely completed by the third quarter of fiscal 2027. FICO said a flatter organizational structure and AI integration should help it bring products to market faster. Those expected benefits are forward-looking company statements, not completed results.
Why the credit-score business is under pressure
The restructuring comes as U.S. mortgage regulators encourage greater competition in credit scoring. The Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to permit lenders to use VantageScore, a competing model developed by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, alongside FICO.
That change could affect pricing and competition in mortgage underwriting, but it does not immediately remove FICO scores from consumer lending. Banks, card issuers, auto lenders and mortgage companies use different scoring versions and underwriting rules.
Consumers do not need to take action because of the workforce announcement. A company restructuring does not directly change an individual credit file or score. People should continue checking their credit reports for errors through the official federally authorized service and should verify any paid score product before purchasing it.
Investors can review current company disclosures through FICO’s SEC filing page. The reported charge, timing and anticipated operating benefits may change as the restructuring proceeds.
Read more in Finance and Business.
Featured image: Photo by Mario Gogh on Unsplash. Image is illustrative.