As Australia’s first-ever tech unicorn, Atlassian is usually in the news for breaking some sort of user base record, redefining what a company can look like in 2023 or even for its founders being vocal on climate change or buying a $130 million mansion without a mortgage.
But today, Atlassian is in the news because the company is the latest to announce it was laying off staff.
The tech news cycle hasn’t this year been dominated by the latest gadget or innovation, instead, layoffs are in the headlines.
In the last year, more than 70,000 people globally have been laid off by Big Tech companies – and that doesn’t count the downstream effect of contractors (and other organisations) losing business as budgets tighten.
For Atlassian, this means letting go of 5 per cent of its workforce, or, 500 people.
Brought to our attention by the Australian Financial Review, the company’s founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar sent a memo to employees to share the bad news.
Per regulatory documentation filed with the U.S. SEC, Atlassian told staff it has “made the difficult decision to rebalance our team to better position Atlassian for the long term”.
“These actions are part of the company’s initiatives to better position it to execute against its largest growth opportunities,” the filing reads. “This includes continuing to invest in strategic areas of the business, aligning talent to best meet customer needs and business priorities, and optimising for operational efficiency.”
That was to regulators, but to staff, the tech heavyweight duo said it was giving an “Open Company, No Bullshit” explanation of next steps. It was polite, as polite as telling 500 people they no longer had a job can be.
It confirmed the layoffs weren’t a reflection on Atlassian’s financial position, rather that the company “will be reinvesting in roles that better support our priorities”.
Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes founded Atlassian back in 2002, putting themselves into $10,000 worth of credit card debt. Merely years later, Atlassian was solidified as Australia’s biggest tech success.
Gizmodo Australia sat down with Farquhar back in October when the billionaire was on a tour to attract more staff to the Atlassian workforce. At the time, he said:
“I think for Atlassian to be successful as a company, we’ve got to do the best thing for our company, our customers, our shareholders, our staff.”