Software giant and tech unicorn Atlassian has announced plans to reduce its global workforce by about 10 percent—approximately 1,600 roles—as it shifts resources toward artificial intelligence (AI) and enterprise sales.
The job cuts will affect employees across several regions, with about 40 percent of the reductions occurring in North America. Australia is expected to account for roughly 30 percent, or about 480 roles, while around 16 percent will impact staff in India.
In a company-wide update, CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes described the move as a difficult but necessary step.
“I’m sharing some important news today. I have made the incredibly difficult decision to reduce the size of our team by 10 percent (or 1,600 employees),” Cannon-Brookes said.
He added that employees would receive an email notification within minutes indicating whether their roles were affected or if consultations would begin in their region.
Founded in Australia, Atlassian is widely known for collaboration and project management tools such as Jira, Confluence and Trello.
Cannon-Brookes said the restructuring would help the company fund further investment in AI capabilities while strengthening its financial position.
“We are doing this to self-fund further investment in AI and enterprise sales, while strengthening our financial profile,” he said. “We’re also changing the way we work and reorganising around our system of work to move faster.”
He acknowledged the personal impact of the decision but said the technology landscape is evolving rapidly.
“The bar for what ‘great’ looks like for software companies—on growth, on profitability, on speed, on value creation—has gone up,” he said, adding that while AI is not intended to replace employees, it will inevitably reshape the skills and roles companies require.
Atlassian said affected workers will receive a global separation package that includes 16 weeks of pay, with an additional week for every year of service.
About Mike Cannon-Brookes
Cannon-Brookes co-founded Atlassian in 2002 with Scott Farquhar after the pair graduated from the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
Beyond Atlassian, Cannon-Brookes is a prominent investor and climate advocate. He has backed several renewable energy initiatives, including the now-defunct SunCable.
Through his family investment firm Grok Ventures and the climate fund Boundless Earth, he has also invested in clean energy and sustainability projects.
Cannon-Brookes has donated about $2.4 million to Climate 200, which supports independent “Teal” candidates in Australian politics.
His net worth is currently estimated at about $7.3 billion, placing him among the world’s wealthiest individuals.
At the time of writing, Atlassian shares were up about 1.5 percent on the NASDAQ following news of the layoffs.
AI Restructuring Across the Tech Sector
Atlassian’s announcement follows similar moves by other technology companies adopting AI-led restructuring strategies.
Australian logistics software firm WiseTech Global recently said it plans to cut around 2,000 roles over the next several financial years as it redesigns operations to embed AI into its workflows.
“As part of our long-term strategic focus on higher margin recurring revenue and our commitment to building a higher-performance culture, this program will likely result in a reduction of approximately 2,000 roles in FY26 and into FY27,” the company said in an investor presentation.
Meanwhile, Block, Inc.—the parent company of Afterpay—announced in February that it would cut about 4,000 jobs as part of a broader restructuring tied to AI adoption.
“We’re reducing our organization by nearly half, from over 10,000 people to just under 6,000,” CEO Jack Dorsey said at the time.
“We’re going to build this company with intelligence at the core of everything we do—how we work, how we create, how we serve our customers.”
