"Freelance gig board Fiverr is laying off 250 workers - a full 30 percent of its workforce - in a pivot to AI, months after the CEO exhorted workers to use AI to stay relevant. It's a pretty dickish move by CEO Micha Kaufman, who announced the reduction in staff in an X post last week, and also ironic: a company that helps people get freelance jobs that are increasingly endangered by AI is now laying off its actual employees due to AI."
"Back in April, Kaufman urged existing staff to start using AI or get left behind in the dust during this technological revolution, which has roiled the job markets and made entry-level positions for recent college graduates scarce. Since the start of the year, some estimate that more than 10,000 jobs and counting have been lost due to businesses incorporating AI, with tech workers like those at Microsoft getting brutally slashed from the job axe."
"Those cullings may look myopic in retrospect, because using AI hasn't goosed profit margins in many companies and the technology is cannibalizing efforts to cultivate entry-level workers into the next generation of company leadership. But that's longer-term thinking that clearly hasn't penetrated the Fiverr C-suite offices. Till then, people can express their displeasure at Kaufman on X, who's been the target of pungent commentary since he made the lay off news."
Fiverr is laying off 250 employees, roughly 30 percent of its workforce, to pivot toward an AI-first operating model. CEO Micha Kaufman announced the cuts on X and described plans for a smaller team with substantially greater productivity and fewer management layers. Kaufman previously urged staff to adopt AI or risk obsolescence. Critics noted the irony of a platform that connects freelancers — many vulnerable to AI disruption — reducing its own headcount for AI efficiency. Industry estimates suggest over 10,000 jobs have been lost to AI adoption this year, and commentators reacted strongly on X.
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