GitLab to cut 7% of its workforce, or about 130 workers, as tech layoffs near 100,000

Massive layoffs continue to sweep across the tech industry. GitLab announced today it will lay off  7% of its employees, or about 130 positions, according to PitchBook data. Gitlab is the latest in a long list of tech companies that have announced layoffs this week as the US economy faces headwinds due to the global economic slowdown.

In a message to the company’s employees on Thursday, CEO Sid Sijbrandij cited a “tough” macroeconomic environment and a commitment to “responsible growth.”

“The current macroeconomic environment is tough, and as a result, companies are still spending but they are taking a more conservative approach to software investments and are taking more time to make purchasing decisions,” Sijbrandij said.

GitLab will offer severance that includes a single payout equal to four months of base salary, and accelerated equity vested to affected employees.

“I had hoped reprioritizing our spending would be enough to withstand the growing global economic downturn. Unfortunately, we need to take further steps and match our pace of spending with our commitment to responsible growth,” the CEO told employees.

GitLab joins a rank of other tech companies, large and small, that have laid off staff in recent weeks, including Amazon, Dell, Google Alphabet, and Meta. Just yesterday, Zoom announced it was laying off 15% of its workforce, or about 1,300 employees as its stock fell from its peak of $559 to $85. A day earlier, Dell announced plans to lay off 6,650 workers. In January, Google also said it plans to lay off more than 12,000 workers, while Microsoft revealed it plans to cut 10,000 employees and Salesforce announced plans to lay off 7,000 workers.

With less than two months into 2023, more than 326 tech companies have laid off 98,100 tech workers, according to Layoffs.FYI, a site that has been tracking all tech layoffs using data compiled from public reports.

We covered GitLab two years ago after the company filed to go public after hitting a $6 billion valuation. GitLab competes with GitHub, a company Microsoft acquired three years ago. GitHub offers enterprise-level services for collaborative software development to businesses and companies.

Founded in 2014 by Dmitriy Zaporozhets and Sytse Sijbrandij, GitLab is a DevOps platform built from the ground up as a single application for all stages of the DevOps lifecycle enabling Product, Design, Development, QA, Security, and Operations teams to work concurrently on the same project. GitLab provides teams a single data store, one user interface, and one permission model across the DevOps lifecycle, allowing teams to collaborate and work on a project from a single conversation, significantly reducing cycle time and focusing exclusively on building great software quickly.

Built on open source, GitLab leverages the community contributions of thousands of developers and millions of users to continuously deliver new DevOps innovations. GitLab is used by more than 100,000 organizations around the globe from startups to global enterprises, including Goldman Sachs, Siemens, UBS, Nvidia, Ticketmaster, Jaguar Land Rover, NASDAQ, Dish Network, and Comcast, among others.

Below is the memo to Gitlab employees.

Earlier today, GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij sent the following note to GitLab team members.

Dear GitLab team members,

I have made the decision to reduce the size of our team by 7%.

This was a very difficult decision, and I understand this may be unexpected to some of you. I’d like to give some context about how we arrived at this outcome.

The current macroeconomic environment is tough, and as a result, companies are still spending but they are taking a more conservative approach to software investments and are taking more time to make purchasing decisions.

I had hoped reprioritizing our spending would be enough to withstand the growing global economic downturn. Unfortunately, we need to take further steps and match our pace of spending with our commitment to responsible growth.

We are sad to say goodbye to talented team members who have played an integral part in GitLab’s journey to date, and I am thankful for their significant contributions. I am sorry to see them leave the company because of this decision.

Everyone leaving has received a meeting invitation from a manager who will provide additional information. We are committed to helping you through this challenging time in the following ways:

Pay through a transition period: Continued payment to team members who are leaving through the transition period, which may vary by region.

Severance: A single payout equal to four months base salary, and payments will be made according to local processes and timing requirements.

Equity: We’re accelerating vesting through 2023-03-15 and removing the vesting cliff for team members who have been granted equity and have been with us for under six months.

Healthcare: Based on location and current benefit options previously selected by team members, healthcare premiums will be covered for up to six months, where possible. Modern Health for mental health support will continue for all team members for six months.

Hardware: Team members can keep their hardware and home office equipment subject to our security protocols.

Career support: We will provide outplacement services with a third-party vendor, including coaching, resume building and guidance, and job-seeking support.

We know this can be an unsettling experience for team members who are staying. It can be hard to see valued team members leave, and we will host a series of Ask Me Anythings (AMAs) to answer your questions.

Sid