
Atlassian Cuts 1,600 Jobs to Self-Fund AI Pivot
Atlassian is laying off 10% of its workforce and splitting its CTO role in two to redirect cash toward AI development - but the company's own CEO pledged a hiring surge five months ago.

Atlassian is laying off 10% of its workforce and splitting its CTO role in two to redirect cash toward AI development - but the company's own CEO pledged a hiring surge five months ago.

Block CEO Jack Dorsey cut 4,000 employees - nearly half the company - citing AI tools as the reason, then predicted the majority of companies will make similar structural changes within 12 months. Wall Street rewarded him with a 25% stock surge. The evidence says he is wrong.

Challenger Gray data shows AI-attributed layoffs hit 55,000 in 2025, a 12x increase from two years prior, but economists at Oxford and Yale say companies may be using AI as a convenient pretext for cuts they planned anyway.