Atlassian's CEO Announces 1,600 Job Cuts Amid AI Growth

Atlassian has announced in a memo to employees that it will be cutting 1,600 jobs – or around 10% of its workforce – to focus on AI and other growth initiatives. 

Employees impacted by the cuts were notified via email. 

In the memo shared on the company’s website, Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon Brookes explained that AI had fundamentally changed the company’s workforce needs. 

He writes: “It would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn't change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas. It does.”

He continued: “I believe this is the right decision for Atlassian. But that doesn't mean it's easy. Far from it. I know this has a huge impact on each of you, and it weighs heavily on me and Atlassian today.”

Adapting to AI-led operating standards

In the employee memo, Mike shared that the company is: “Executing incredibly well across our AI, Enterprise and System of Work transformations.”

The company saw a 20% increase in total revenue for its fiscal year 2025 results, and 25% growth in cloud revenue last quarter. 

Despite this, the company has seen its market value drop significantly – shares have decreased from US$300 in early 2025, compared to US$80 at the beginning of March – with investor concerns that AI could disrupt many of the services the company offers. 

Mike says the company must adapt, as “the bar or what “great” looks like for software companies – on growth, on profitability, on speed, on value creation – has gone up.”

As part of these cuts, the company has also announced that Rajeev Rajan, Atlassian’s Chief Technology Officer, will step down from his role after close to four years with the company. 

According to Mike, the company took a “thoughtful and incredibly thorough approach” to deciding the roles that would be impacted by wider workforce cuts. 

He says: “We made some structural org changes and focused on retaining Atlassians with the skills to help us thrive as an AI-first company – this included strong performers, graduates and Atlassians with transferable skills.”

The cuts will be felt globally, with 30% reportedly impacting employees in Australia, where the company is headquartered. 

The AI jobs debate

Atlassian’s announcement follows widespread job losses due to AI. 

Research from Challenger, Gray & Christmas finds that companies announced more than 54,000 AI-related layoffs in the US for 2025, and a 2025 Acas survey found that 26% of British employees are concerned about AI job cuts. 

In February, fintech company Block announced that it was laying off 40% of its workforce – or 4,000 jobs. 

CEO Jack Dorsey described this as a “difficult decision”, but said that AI has “changed what it means to build and run a company”.

However, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has suggested that some companies are unfairly blaming AI for planned workforce cuts. 

At the AI Impact Summit in India in February 2026, he told attendees: “I don’t know what the exact percentage is, but there’s some AI washing where people are blaming AI for layoffs that they would otherwise do, and then there’s some real displacement by AI of different kinds of jobs”.