AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT GITLAB

San Francisco, California-based GitLab, a software developer of a platform that helps organizations manage the entire software development lifecycle in one system—from planning and coding to testing, security scanning, deployment, and monitoring, has announced a significant restructuring and a 14% reduction in its workforce.

The reduction in force affects 350 employees across 22 countries, flattens management layers, and invests in infrastructure to scale its platform and serve increased traffic from AI workflows, with a sharper focus on research and development.

According to Bill Staples

A letter to our team.

Today is hard. I want to acknowledge how difficult today is given the volume of change we’re asking you to take in, and the uncertainty of a transparent restructuring process.

We've spent three days together on the why, the what, and the how of where GitLab is going. This letter is the written summary, so you have something to reflect on as we navigate the coming week together.

Why we're initiating a transparent restructure of the company

This restructure process is not like others you may be seeing in the news. Of course AI is changing the way we work and is part of our transformation plan, but this is not an AI optimization or cost cutting exercise. We intend to reinvest the vast majority of savings back into the business to accelerate our unique opportunity in the agentic era as defined in our Act 2 Core Beliefs.

One way our restructure process is different is that we are doing it transparently and including every team member in the process. Starting today, managers across the company are entering deeper conversations with leadership about how the restructuring principles land inside their teams. Those conversations will inform the decision of impacted roles. The reason we're not landing the full decision today is that getting the shape of the next GitLab right matters more than getting it fast — and a transparent process with input from you, your managers, leaders across the organization, and our employee representatives is the best way to land this change with an organization ready to move forward.

As we discussed today, we are planning a workforce reduction driven by a concentration of our country footprint, flattening how we're organized, and role right-sizing designed to optimize the shape and size of our teams. In addition, we’re establishing a new set of operating principles, founded on a culture of excellence.

I want to be direct: I want to do this once, and do it right, and not revisit our structure anytime in the foreseeable future. The team that comes through this restructure is the team that builds Act 2, and you should be able to plan your life and your work without bracing for what comes next. Let’s talk about what’s changing and how we get it right.

The restructuring principles we’re optimizing for

Reduced operational footprint: We’re reducing our country footprint because operating in nearly 60 countries does not allow us to give every team member a great experience. We anticipate reducing the number of countries by 30% focused on geos where we have only a handful of people or fewer. Team members who are in good standing and would like to relocate are welcome to do so. We'll continue to serve customers in those markets through our partner network where appropriate.

Flatter organization: We’re flattening our organization because eight layers is too deep for a company our size and management layers are slowing us down. Every layer of management increases the number of places where priorities and communication gets filtered. A flatter organization will better connect every team member with leadership.

Role right-sizing: As we shift to a new strategy and way of working, powered by AI, we must revisit the size of staffing for each role to ensure we are optimizing for speed and customer outcomes. In some cases, AI can augment and accelerate what team members have been doing, in other places we need to expand certain roles to go faster. We do expect daily use of AI by every individual in the company and we are launching AI acceleration programs to support every role as part of our transformation.

How we’ll operate going forward

We will be retiring CREDIT as our values framework. CREDIT was the right framework for the very successful Act 1 that took the company to $1B ARR. Those values shaped a company that thrived through COVID and our IPO to become one of the most recognized names in DevSecOps. We are not retiring them because they were wrong, we are choosing instead to focus on something different for this era which demands a different operating posture. Many of the same values we have been living and often talk about are still directly applicable in this era. Our three new operating principles are:

Speed with Quality means we move faster than we have, with the discipline that lets others rely on the work, especially our customers. We achieve this with smaller teams, tighter cycles, and stronger guardrails. We will hold a higher bar for what we commit to and what we deliver against those commitments. Here are some specific examples we shared today of what we expect every team member to embody:

We organize and execute cross-functional projects in small teams with more autonomy

We set high standards for quality, always prove what we build with customer zero first

We build fast, experiment, learn and fail fast, especially for two way decisions

If an agent can do it, we automate it, and find things where our judgement or skill is essential

We have zero tolerance for unnecessary bureaucracy

We use both sync (for speed) and async (for scale) patterns

Ownership Mindset means we expect every individual to act as a steward for the company and with autonomy. The people closest to the work make the decisions about it, and they own the result. Layers of management between leaders and the work coming out, and handoffs that dilute accountability are eliminated. Some examples of the mindset we expect every team member to embody:

I take pride in my work because it delivers real outcomes

It is never someone else's problem

Everyone is on my team

I care deeply for the customer and the business health

I am efficient with budget, people and everyone’s time

Customer Outcomes means we measure ourselves by what changes for the customer, not by the activity on our side. Internal milestones matter only to the extent that they connect to customer impact. Examples of behaviors we expect from everyone:

I can explain how my work connects to a customer outcome, not just a roadmap item or task/activity

My work creates joy and delight for customers so they love GitLab

I build customer relationships on fairness and mutual respect, and I make sure every deal works for both sides.

I’m focused on value realization first because that drives bigger commitments over time

When a customer is stuck, I treat their time like it's more expensive than mine

These are built on a culture of excellence, which we expect every team member to uphold. That means:

Excellence in thought: team members who are sharp, understand deeply and with precision, communicate with clarity and integrity

Excellence in action: people with the ability to produce high quality results and business impact

Interpersonal excellence: individuals who are good humans, embrace diversity, inclusion and belonging, assume good intent and treat everyone with respect

Next steps in the restructuring process

Our transparent restructure process creates uncertainty that is real and it's hard, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. I ask that you reflect on the why, what and how and engage your manager in a real conversation about the work, the questions and concerns you have, and what the next chapter looks like for you. Your manager may not have all the answers, because they too are going through this period of uncertainty. The conversation still matters and your input shapes how we land as a team.

The voluntary window exists for you. After three days walking through Act 2 together, you have the picture you need to decide whether GitLab is the right place for you in the next chapter of your career. If it isn't, talk to your manager or director and, where local requirements allow, apply for a separation before May 18. If approved, we'll include you in the same separation package as anyone else. The approval process exists because individual circumstances and local requirements vary and have to be weighed case by case. This process is meant to provide something we all deserve once the restructure is complete: a team that is excited and committed to the future of GitLab. Please take a moment to listen to what Sid, our founder and Exec Chair, thinks about the changes we’re making today.

Why I hope you stay

I want to spend the rest of this letter convincing you to stay, if the “Why” and the “What” sessions haven’t already convinced you.

Better employee experience. Our overriding objective is to bring a significant improvement to the joy and impact of each team member participating in Act 2. We know that by doing that, we can better capture the creativity and impact of every individual and build a world class business.

Better pay. Once approved, our new bonus program will give every team member who isn’t on an incentive compensation plan or bonus plan today, the opportunity to earn a cash bonus based on their individual performance, targeting 10% of salary, awarded at their manager’s discretion.

Smaller, empowered R&D teams with a clear vision. We aspire to double the number of smaller, R&D teams - up to 60 - with more autonomy and ownership.

Less friction, less overhead. The handoffs that have slowed us down are going to be significantly reduced. The layers between you and the decisions that affect your work are being reduced. If you've ever been frustrated at GitLab by how long it took to get something obvious done, Act 2 is engineered around removing that friction.

Solve big technical problems. Our five architectural bets provide deep, technical problems that will redefine GitLab for the agentic era, including a new git for agents that supports machine scale, an orchestration layer for humans, agents and full lifecycle orchestration, a connected graph of full lifecycle data as a service, brand new policy service to provide centralized governance and a fully autonomous software engineering experience.

More flexible buying programs. Our new consumption buying programs will make it far easier to sell GitLab and for customers to buy GitLab seats + credits and unlock adoption faster than ever before.

Career growth. Bold bets like Act 2 are rare and bring with them opportunities for every team member at every level to learn faster and develop skills and experience that will matter for the rest of your career, here or wherever your path takes you.

Aligned leadership with the will to win. We have a leadership team with e-group, and our SLT, that is committed to win, make the hard decisions and align the organization cross functionally to accelerate results. We will hold ourselves accountable to help you succeed and create a winning organization.

Uniquely positioned to win. We are uniquely positioned to not only participate, but to lead in our category where the TAM is exploding at a step function rate. We have structural advantages in data, technology and customer trust that give us an advantage over AI labs and start-ups that we can harness to redefine how software is built in the agentic era. By being part of Act 2, you will be part of a winning organization that helps shape software engineering in the agentic era.

For those who are leaving

Whether by choice or otherwise: the work you did here mattered, and it continues to matter. You came to GitLab when it needed you. You built things the next chapter is built on. We owe you real support through the transition, and our genuine respect. If we're asking our team to be world-class, we have a reciprocal obligation to be world-class in how we treat people leaving us. That's the standard we're holding ourselves to.

I'll close with this. None of what I've written makes today easier. It isn't supposed to. What I want you to know is that we've made these decisions carefully, our intention is to make them only once, and we're going to do right by the people leaving and by the people staying.

Thank you for what you've built. Thank you for what comes next.

Bill Staples, CEO, GitLab

Change is constant, and it's coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, nor promises of a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something terrible hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, at any time, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall, why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT TERADATA

AI First, Employees Last? The New Corporate Priorities

For years, workers were told that artificial intelligence would make jobs easier, boost productivity, and create new opportunities. Now, some employees are hearing a very different message: don't expect a raise because the money is going to AI instead.

That reality hit home at Teradata when CEO Steve McMillan reportedly informed employees that the company's 2026 salary adjustment budget would be redirected to fund AI investments. The announcement has become a lightning rod in the growing debate over whether corporate leaders are prioritizing technology at the expense of the people who actually keep businesses running.

The timing is particularly striking. Despite the hype surrounding AI, many organizations are still struggling to show meaningful returns on their investments. Numerous AI pilot projects have failed to deliver the dramatic productivity gains that executives promised investors. Meanwhile, companies continue pouring billions into AI infrastructure, software licenses, and consulting services.

For employees, the message can feel clear: management is willing to gamble on algorithms while asking workers to absorb the cost. Even if AI eventually produces long-term benefits, freezing salaries today risks damaging morale, loyalty, and trust across the workforce.

Business leaders may see aggressive AI spending as a signal to Wall Street that they are embracing the future. Employees, however, may see something else entirely — a company investing in technology while treating its people as a budget line item.

The question isn't whether AI will play a major role in the future of business. It almost certainly will. The real question is whether companies can embrace innovation without sacrificing the workforce that made their success possible in the first place.

Bottom Line: When employees are asked to fund corporate AI ambitions through stagnant wages, executives shouldn't be surprised if workers start questioning who really benefits from the AI revolution.

Change is constant, and it's coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, nor promises of a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something terrible hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, at any time, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall, why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT CLICKUP

San Diego, California-based ClickUp, a project management software company that provides an all-in-one platform to improve workplace efficiency and collaboration, has announced a major 22% reduction in force, not related to cutting costs, but reallocating funds to new compensation bands for remaining employees.

The reduction will impact 286 employees.

According to CEO Zeb Evans...

Today we reduced headcount by 22%. The business is the strongest it's ever been. So I think it's important to be direct about what I'm seeing and why.

First, I made this decision and I own it. I did it because the way to operate at the highest level of productivity is changing, and to win the future, ClickUp needs to change with it.

Second, this wasn't about cutting costs. Most savings from this change will flow directly back into the people who stay. We'll be introducing million-dollar salary bands. If you create outsized impact using AI, you'll be paid outside of traditional bands.

Most importantly, I have the deepest gratitude for those affected. We're doing this from a position of strength specifically so we can take care of people properly. Everyone affected receives a package aimed at honoring their contributions and easing the transition.

I only see two options: wait for this to play out gradually in the market or be honest about what I'm seeing and act proactively.

THE 100X ORGANIZATION

The primary change is that we're restructuring around what I call 100x org. The goal is 100x output. The roles required to build at the highest level are fundamentally different than they were a year ago.

Incremental improvements to existing systems won't get us there. We need new ones. That means creating enough disruption to rebuild rather than iterate on what's already broken.

The common narrative is that AI makes everyone more productive. It doesn't. Many of the workflows of today, if left unchanged, create bottlenecks in AI systems.

These roles will evolve. But waiting for that to happen naturally means falling behind now.

The 100x org is actually heavily dependent on people - infinitely more than today. This is only possible with 10x people that have embraced and adopted new ways of working.

THE BUILDERS, AGENT MANAGERS, AND FRONT-LINERS

— THE BUILDERS: 10X ENGINEERS

I don't think most companies have internalized what's actually happening with AI in engineering. The common narrative is that AI makes all engineers more productive. That may be true in isolation, but at an organization level - that is the farthest thing from reality.

Here's what we've validated recently at ClickUp: the great engineers, the ones who can orchestrate, architect, and review, are becoming 100x engineers. They're not writing code. They're directing agents that write code. The skill is judgment.

AI makes the best engineers wildly more productive, and everyone else using AI slows these engineers down.

Think about it - the bottlenecks are (1) orchestration - telling AI what to do, and (2) reviewing - what AI did. Everything is leapfrogged and no longer needed.

So who do you want orchestrating and reviewing code?

And how do you want your best engineers to spend their time?

If your best engineers are spending time reviewing other people's code, then this is inherently an inefficient bottleneck. These engineers can review their agent's code much faster than reviewing human code.

The new world is about enabling your 10x engineers to become 100x.

The wrong strategy is to push every engineer to use infinite tokens. Companies doing this are celebrating 500% more pull requests. But customer outcomes don't match the volume of code being generated.

I call this the great reckoning of AI coding, and every company will face this soon if not already.

More code is just another bottleneck to the best engineers, and ultimately to your company's impact as well.

— THE BUILDERS: 10X PRODUCT MANAGERS

Product management and design roles are merging.

Designers that have customer focus, become more like product managers.

And product managers that have intuition for UX become more like designers.

The bottleneck of user research is gone. It takes us just one mention of an agent to kickoff research and analyze results.

The bottleneck of product <> design iteration is also gone. The product builder iterates on their own, along with agents and skills that ensure alignment with quality and strategy.

Also controversial today - I believe that the wrong strategy is to have your PMs shipping code - that just introduces another bottleneck that the best engineers will waste their time on.

To be clear, PMs should be coding but they should do this in a playground to iterate, validate, and scope. That code should not go to production.

Everything outside of managing systems, orchestrating AI, and reviewing output becomes a bottleneck.

That's why the other roles that are critical along with these are the systems managers (to reduce bottlenecks) along with a bottleneck you can't replace - customer meeting time.

— THE SYSTEM MANAGERS

Ironically, the people that automate their jobs with AI will always have a job. They become owners of the AI systems - agent managers. We have many examples of these people at ClickUp.

The underlying systems in which we operate are absolutely critical to get right. I think most companies are delusional to think they can iterate on existing systems and compete in this new world.

You must create enough disruption so that old systems are deprecated entirely. If there's any definition for 'AI native' that's what it is.

— THE FRONT-LINERS

In a world that will become saturated with AI communication, the human touch will matter more than anything to customers.

This is a bottleneck that you shouldn't replace - even when agents are high enough quality to do video meetings.

One-on-one meeting time with customers is something that shouldn't be automated. The systems around the meetings should be - so that front-liners spend nearly 100% of their time with customers.

REWARDING 100X IMPACT

In a world where companies are able to do so much more with less, where does that excess money go?

In our case, much of the savings in this new operating model will flow directly back to those that enabled it.

We must reward people that create productivity accordingly. This aligns incentives on both sides. Plus, in a world where your best people create 100x impact, you can't afford to lose them.

You should aim to retain these employees for decades. The context they have and their ability to efficiently orchestrate and review will be nearly impossible to replace.

Compensation bands of today should be thrown out the door. We're introducing $1 million cash/year salary bands with a path available to nearly everyone in the company if they produce 100x impact by creating or managing AI systems.

THE FUTURE

Nearly every company will make changes like these. The ones that do it proactively will define what comes next.

The future is not fewer people. It's different work, new roles, and better rewards for those who embrace it. We're already seeing entirely new roles emerge, like Agent Managers, that didn't exist a year ago.

ClickUp is positioning to lead this shift, not just internally, but for our customers too. I've never been more certain about where we're headed.

Change is constant, and it's coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, nor promises of a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something terrible hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, at any time, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall, why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?