GitLab Lays Off 350 Employees and Exits 22 Countries to Focus on AI

By: Harsh Vardhan

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Updated on: 04-Jun-2026 12:00 PM

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​GitLab has announced it will lay off around 350 employees, representing about 14 percent of its workforce. The decision comes as the company intensifies its focus on artificial intelligence. The layoffs were revealed alongside GitLab’s first-quarter earnings report.

Key Highlights

• GitLab will lay off around 350 employees, about 14 percent of its workforce.
• The company is exiting 22 countries, reducing its global footprint by approximately 37 percent.
• GitLab will reinvest most savings from restructuring into AI infrastructure and development.
• First-quarter revenue rose 23 percent year-on-year to $264 million.
• Over 116,700 tech workers have lost jobs this year as companies focus on AI.

The restructuring plan also includes exiting 22 countries, reducing GitLab’s global presence by about 37 percent. This move is part of a broader strategy to streamline operations and shift resources toward AI-driven initiatives.

Restructuring and Strategic Shifts

GitLab’s restructuring follows the "GitLab Act 2" strategy outlined in May by CEO Bill Staples. The company aims to prepare for what it calls the "agentic era" of AI. As part of this plan, GitLab will flatten management structures and reorganize engineering teams. In some areas, up to three layers of management will be removed to speed up decision-making and improve efficiency.

Most of the savings from these changes will be reinvested into AI infrastructure, research, and development. GitLab does not plan to retain these savings as cost reductions. Instead, the company will focus on building capabilities for AI-powered software development.

AI Investment and Infrastructure Overhaul

CEO Bill Staples said the rise of AI agents is creating workloads at a scale that traditional developer infrastructure cannot handle. During the earnings call, he described a "generational rebuild" of GitLab’s infrastructure. The company is redesigning parts of Git, developing new APIs optimized for AI agents, and creating orchestration systems to enable collaboration between AI and human developers.

GitLab is also investing in governance and security tools to help enterprises manage large-scale AI-generated software development. These investments reflect a broader industry trend as technology companies adapt to the increasing influence of artificial intelligence.

Financial Impact and Industry Context

The restructuring will result in pre-tax charges of $30 million to $35 million, mainly for severance payments and employee benefits. Despite these costs, GitLab remains committed to investing in AI infrastructure, internal AI tooling, and product development.

GitLab reported strong first-quarter results, with revenue rising 23 percent year-on-year to $264 million. The company now has 1,519 customers spending more than $100,000 annually on its platform.

GitLab’s actions reflect a wider trend in the technology sector. Major companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Oracle, Cisco, PayPal, and Block have also announced layoffs while increasing investments in AI. According to Layoffs.fyi, over 116,700 employees at 164 technology firms have lost jobs this year as businesses shift resources toward artificial intelligence and automation.