Wix cuts 20% of workforce in AI and currency restructuring

Wix is cutting roughly 1,000 employees, about 20% of its workforce, in its largest layoffs. The CEO and co-founder announced the restructuring as a company-wide change driven by two forces: a strengthening Israeli shekel that increases labor costs in dollar terms, and the need to rebuild around AI-native roles. Wix had 5,277 employees at the end of March 2026, with more than 60% in Israel, and the cuts are expected to reduce headcount to about 4,200. Affected employees will receive personally curated separation packages and will be contacted individually. The shekel strengthened about 14% in 2025 and about 7% in early 2026, raising Israeli engineering costs in dollar terms and affecting the broader Israeli tech sector.

"Wix is laying off approximately 1,000 employees, roughly 20% of its workforce, in the largest round of cuts in the company's history. CEO and co-founder Avishai Abrahami announced the decision on 28 May in a message posted publicly on X and sent simultaneously to all staff. He framed the restructuring as a company-wide change driven by two forces: a currency mismatch that is making the company's Israeli workforce increasingly expensive in dollar terms, and a fundamental shift in how software companies need to operate in the age of AI."

"The Israeli shekel has strengthened sharply against the US dollar over the past two years, rising roughly 14% in 2025 and a further 7% in the first five months of 2026. For a company that earns the vast majority of its revenue in dollars but pays the majority of its workforce in shekels, the effect is a structural cost increase that no amount of product improvement can offset. The currency shift has hit the entire Israeli tech sector."

"Wix employed 5,277 people at the end of March 2026, with more than 60% based in Israel. The cuts will reduce headcount to roughly 4,200. Affected employees will receive what Abrahami described as personally curated separation packages and will be contacted individually."

"Israeli engineering salaries have risen 15% to 20% in dollar terms within a few months, making Israeli developers among the most expensive in the world, sometimes more costly than their counterparts in Silicon Valley. Wix is not the only Israeli company affected, but its exposure is unusually"

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