(L-R) Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar
Atlassian has announced a five percent staff reduction, “around 500” people in real terms, a move it says will “rebalance our team to better position Atlassian for the long term”.
Co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar wrote in an internal announcement that “tough calls” had to be made “to prioritise the most critical work for our current and future customers”.
“We need to go further in rebalancing the skills we require to run faster at our company priorities,” the two wrote.
Rather than a company-wide cut, they said, the most impacted teams will be talent acquisition, program management, and research and insights.
Research and insights was established in 2017 and focuses on service design and user experience.
The blog post doesn’t say how deeply individual teams will be cut.
Cannon-Brookes and Farquhar said there will be a global severance package of at least 15 weeks plus a week for each year of service.
Laid off staff will be able to retain their remotely-erased laptops, and where the company sponsors healthcare that will continue for six months.
Where possible, the company said, it will provide the chance to apply for open roles internally, on a global basis, and a range of outplacement services will be offered.
Rather than escorting staff from the premises, most who are laid off will have until close of business March 10 local time to “interact with their teams”.
“We encourage you to take the time for farewells, including writing goodbye blogs and sharing any handovers. Some of those leaving may not want to do any of this – and that’s okay too,” the co-founders wrote.
Those who have access to sensitive data will have their laptops locked.
Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes will host a “founder tour” next week to answer questions.