Key takeaways
- In a letter to employees shared on LinkedIn, Micha Kaufman, CEO of Fiverr, has announced that he will be laying off 250 workers in an effort to make the company “AI First.”
- Kaufman has explained that the move will allow Fiverr to become a “leaner” and “faster” company, and will allow it to focus on “a modern AI-focused tech infrastructure,” that will likely see AI at the core of the company’s operations.
- As more companies become AI First or develop AI First initiatives, it’s likely we’ll see more businesses centering the technology, however it’s uncertain as to whether the speed of AI deployment matches its current capabilities
Layoffs are expected over at Fiverr, with 250 workers expected to lose their jobs as the company bids to go “AI First.”
Fiverr is not the first company to align itself more substantially with artificial intelligence, with Duolingo doing the same after it announced it would be laying off contract workers in the process.
However, it may be the case that companies are going AI-centric too soon, especially as there are still a lot of questions about whether the technology is equipped to take on and replace human workers, without harming operations or overall profit.
250 Workers to Lose Jobs As Fiverr Looks Towards AI
Online marketplace Fiverr has announced it will be laying off 250 workers, in a shift that will allow it to focus more on AI.
As of December of last year, the company had 762 employees, so the layoffs will account for around 30% of its workforce. The company hopes it will be able to reinvest part of the savings from the layoffs into the business.
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In a letter to employees that CEO Micha Kaufman shared on LinkedIn, he stated: “We are launching a transformation for Fiverr, to turn Fiverr into an AI-first company that’s leaner, faster, with a modern AI-focused tech infrastructure, a smaller team, each with substantially greater productivity, and far fewer management layers.”
‘AI First’ Is the Modern Company Epithet
Fiverr is not the first company to boldly proclaim itself to be “AI First,” a structure that sees businesses place AI at the core of its operations. Not long ago, Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn came under fire after he claimed the language-learning platform would be replacing some of its contract workers with AI, in a quest to also go AI First.
Although, von Ahn would later restyle his original statement, to claim that the company doesn’t plan to replace full-time employees with AI.
Other companies have made similar pledges. Shopify operates an ‘AI First’ hiring rule, that has managers prove that AI can’t do a job before they are allowed to hire for it. This is further evidence that companies are not only using AI tools to improve productivity, but are wanting to see these tools at the center of their operations.
Too Much AI Too Soon?
Other than in cases where businesses have implemented AI or replaced workers with it, and then hastily changed their minds, there is still some mystery around how an AI First company will operate. In a report earlier this year, Microsoft predicted that future businesses that want to survive the AI revolution should look to become a “Frontier Firm,” which sees humans managing teams of AI agents.
However, while Microsoft urged businesses to act quickly, is this too quick? Especially since there are still mixed studies around AI productivity, and plenty of examples where AI has been deployed only to generate unpredictable results.
Similarly, there is the possibility that companies are simply jumping on the bandwagon of AI adoption, rather than finding out how it can help their business specifically. Studies have shown that peer pressure is playing a role in AI spending. This could be further prove that yes, the technology is moving impressively fast, but is it too fast to end up being worthwhile?
The post Fiverr to Lay Off 250 Workers In AI Refocus Effort appeared first on Tech.co.
