{"id":553240,"date":"2026-03-20T17:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/553240\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T17:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:23:09","slug":"first-came-the-ai-teammates-then-the-layoffs-the-new-reality-for-atlassian-staff-now-looking-for-work-atlassian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/553240\/","title":{"rendered":"First came the AI \u2018teammates\u2019, then the layoffs: the new reality for Atlassian staff now looking for work | Atlassian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sacked from his \u201cdream job\u201d at software giant Atlassian<\/a>, Rubio* wants just one thing \u2013 closure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were probably exceeding expectations and there\u2019s no explanation from the company as a whole as to why any of this happened,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only desire that I have, outside of receiving my severance package, is closure as to why I was selected.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning last week, Atlassian laid off 1,600 workers \u2013 about 10% of its total workforce. Nearly 500 Australian staff were among them.<\/p>\n

Some were on the frontline of building AI into the company\u2019s products. There were those who had worked there for more than a decade. Others were on leave when they found out they were without a job.<\/p>\n

Guardian Australia spoke to four former Australian staff members: three who were laid off last week and one who left fearing cuts were coming.<\/p>\n

They say the redundancies came without warning.<\/p>\n

It felt like a \u201clack of humanity\u201d, Rubio says. He had woken up at 8am on that Thursday morning, and saw an email alerting him to his fate.<\/p>\n

He says his work laptop login was blocked just half an hour later.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a hard stop \u2026 I didn\u2019t really know what to do with myself during the day,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea when the severance package will actually come because that wasn\u2019t really communicated. I literally had to just start that process of looking for new roles as soon as I got the email.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a note sent to staff that same morning, Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes said the company had to become more agile, invest further in AI, and finally break even.<\/p>\n

\u2018We thought that we were safe\u2019<\/p>\n

In 2021, Atlassian was worth US$77bn. It attracted top software talent, having adopted a \u201cteam anywhere\u201d policy of remote work and hiring rapidly during the pandemic, before keeping work culture relaxed and flying staff in for team retreats.<\/p>\n

But investors began selling out of software companies. The company\u2019s worth slipped to US$53bn by early 2025, then halved in the subsequent year \u2013 and halved again in just two months.<\/p>\n

Today it is estimated to be worth about US$13bn (A$18bn).<\/p>\n

In 2021, Atlassian was worth US$77bn. Today it is estimated to be worth about US$13bn (A$18bn). Photograph: George Chan\/AAP<\/p>\n

Despite generating billions in revenue from business subscriptions to workflow tools such as Trello, it hasn\u2019t turned a profit in almost 10 years and investors fear businesses will use AI to make tools.<\/p>\n

Rebecca*, a designer, says the fall in share price sparked rumours of redundancies, which only grew after Amazon<\/a>, Block<\/a>, Salesforce and Pinterest<\/a> cut their workforce and promised to take on more AI.<\/p>\n

Atlassian also started bringing in AI \u201cteammates\u201d so staff could do more, she says.<\/p>\n

Then, in February, hiring was paused. The company closed a number of offices soon after, citing underutilisation.<\/p>\n

Team retreats, where staff were flown in from around the country to enjoy some \u201ctogetherness\u201d, were postponed.<\/p>\n

Rebecca thought her team would be left alone. They were at the frontline of adding AI to Atlassian\u2019s products and were using the technology themselves to work faster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought that we were safe,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese AI agents have been really, really helpful, and they will be still for people, but you couldn\u2019t use something like that to replace an actual human worker.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the redundancies came. Most were in key software areas of research and development: engineering, products, design, all areas adopting AI tools.<\/p>\n

Rebecca says she believes little regard was paid to success, or an individuals\u2019 abilities or life situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really stuck, and I don\u2019t think this was handled very well, looking at many of our circumstances,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey definitely made a mistake by firing so many people who [are] eager to put their best effort into improving and building new features and functions within AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff have heard stories of those being let go while on parental leave, just weeks away from returning to work. Others had to spend the morning comforting crying children, worried they would have to move.<\/p>\n

Cannon-Brookes told staff that the affected roles were carefully considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took a thoughtful and incredibly thorough approach to determining impacted roles \u2026 and focused on retaining Atlassians with the skills to help us thrive as an AI-first company,\u201d Cannon-Brookes wrote in his note.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur approach is not \u2018AI replaces people\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those affected found out through a sudden email and a video from Cannon-Brookes, and then were given some time to say goodbye to colleagues over company Slack messaging channels.<\/p>\n

Rebecca didn\u2019t even get to watch that video. She says she was locked out of her staff account just an hour after being notified of the layoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not able to use it for long, I just looked at it for like five minutes,\u201d Rebecca says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t access Slack and I can\u2019t access anything from Atlassian \u2026 and I can\u2019t talk to anyone about my situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018No choice\u2019 but to pivot hard to AI?<\/p>\n

Atlassian was once famous for its laid-back policies for staff.<\/p>\n

But Shaji*, an engineer who was laid off, says the environment worsened when the company started focusing on efficiency in 2024.<\/p>\n

At around that time, Atlassian updated its performance review system, putting employees everywhere under increased stress, Shaji says.<\/p>\n

The new system, Apex, is aimed at recognising strong performers and rewarding them. Internal research suggested employee satisfaction improved, and developers began completing some tasks in half the time after it was introduced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very open about the fact that they wanted to increase the number of \u2018regrettable attrition\u2019, which is basically people who are performance [managed] out \u2026 [and] it picked up significantly,\u201d Shaji says.<\/p>\n

The company also began to encourage and train staff to use AI tools. By mid-2025, some were required to use it, Shaji says, although it\u2019s understood the company has regarded its approach to AI as \u201cthoughtful experimentation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was faster than AI, if it was a simple bug or vulnerability,\u201d Shaji says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I started using more AI as the workload started increasing \u2026 I either have to start working 12 hours a day to complete this backload or tasks I got, or I need to start [automating] my work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cannon-Brookes told staff in his letter that the company had no choice but to pivot hard to AI.<\/p>\n

Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian: \u2018Our approach is not \u2018AI replaces people.\u2019 Photograph: Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bar for what \u2018great\u2019 looks like for software companies \u2013 on growth, on profitability, on speed, on value creation \u2013 has gone up,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn\u2019t change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas. It does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018AI-washing\u2019<\/p>\n

Rubio accuses the company of \u201cAI-washing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no amount of AI that can really replace a solid engineer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re probably going to be shooting yourself in the foot at some later date when something happens and you have no idea how to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood Atlassian requires workers to be accountable for decisions \u2013 regardless of whether AI is used to inform them.<\/p>\n

Shaji also says there\u2019s a chance AI tools will improve and help his former colleagues make up for his lost expertise and work hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re making a big bet to say \u2026 you can fire people who hold all the institutional knowledge because it should be within their products,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Dave* left the company in mid-2025, fearing that cuts would come. He was right.<\/p>\n

But he thinks Atlassian had little other option, as AI threatens to transform the software industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of this, it\u2019s just business,\u201d he says. \u201cSo many things that people want to do can be automated, that\u2019s just reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

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