Fiverr lays off 250 employees to become 'AI-first' company
Fiverr, the well-known freelance marketplace, is letting go of about 250 employees—almost a third of its team—as it pivots to become an "AI-first" company.
CEO Micha Kaufman called this a "painful reset," aiming to make Fiverr leaner and more efficient with fewer management layers.
Staff will drop from 762 to just over 500
With the layoffs, Fiverr's staff will drop from 762 at the end of 2024 to just over 500 people.
The company is doubling down on artificial intelligence, with tools like Neo, Fiverr Go, and Dynamic Matching already automating things like coding, marketing, and customer care.
Most ordering and payment processes are automated.
Day-to-day operations shouldn't see much disruption right now
Fiverr says day-to-day operations shouldn't see much disruption right now. Savings from these job cuts will be used to boost tech upgrades.
As Kaufman put it, this shift is about getting back into "startup mode" so Fiverr can keep up in today's fast-moving AI world.