As reported by cnbc.com, the reasons for the layoffs are the “rapid development of artificial intelligence capabilities” and difficulties related to currency exchange rate fluctuations.
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“We have witnessed the biggest change in company creation since the invention of modern programming languages in the 1980s. This is not just the introduction of new tools – it is a fundamental restructuring of company creation, thinking, management, and operations,” wrote A. Abrahami on his social network “X” account.
He also stated that the company will eliminate some management levels to make decisions faster.
A. Abrahami also noted that with the Israeli shekel continuing to strengthen against the US dollar, the exchange rate is causing “structural pressure” on the company’s ability to operate at the current scale.
Wix’s head in Lithuania, Monika Laukaitė, confirmed to 15min that this decision will also affect employees working in Lithuania.
When asked how many employees in our country are planned to be laid off, she said: “We do not disclose this information. We are dealing with around the same 20 percent, slightly more in some countries, slightly less in others, but a similar percentage.”
Speaking about the reasons for the layoffs, M. Laukaitė noted that “this is a global decision, which is applied to Lithuania just as it is to all other countries. It has affected all the company’s branches worldwide.”
Wix joins the wave of technology companies significantly reducing their workforce, with many executives citing the role of artificial intelligence in automating part of the work processes as one of the reasons.
In February, the US financial technology company Block laid off nearly 4,000 employees – almost half of its workforce. CFO Amrita Ahuja said the company sees an opportunity to “move faster with smaller, highly talented teams, using artificial intelligence to automate a larger portion of the work.”
This month, the US technology company Cisco reduced its workforce by 5 percent. CEO Chuck Robbins emphasized the need to “rapidly reallocate resources,” given the pace of market changes.
And just last week, the US technology company Meta eliminated about 8,000 jobs, which accounts for roughly 10 percent of all the company’s employees.
According to the update provided to shareholders in May, at the end of the first quarter, Wix had 5,277 employees. This means that the layoffs announced on Thursday will affect just over 1,000 people.
After this news, the stock price of the company listed on the Nasdaq exchange barely changed.
