Fiverr Cuts 30% of Staff to Go “AI-First.” What It Really Means

Fiverr (a popular online marketplace for freelancers worldwide) is in the news for laying off 30% of its workforce in the wake of AI (what they call restructuring to an AI-first company). The company announced the news on September 15, 2025, and about 250 of its employees were let go. The CEO of Fiverr, Micha Kaufman, calls the move "Startup Mode." What does it mean? Is the company restructuring from its roots? Does AI-first mean more layoffs to come, and all dependency on machines and fewer people than they are now? Learn more details below.

Why Fiverr Laid off 250 Employees?

According to Fiverr’s CEO, Micha Kaufman, Fiverr is rebuilding itself as an AI-first company. It means the company is building the core of its business around Artificial Intelligence (AI). What does it do?

• It's just as other companies are restructuring themselves. More lean, faster, and more productive teams only.
• Fiverr is planning to have fewer managers and layers of staff and more AI tools to drive as many functions of the company as possible.

Market Comparison

Salesforce had a similar approach. The company cut out all the automated jobs, like customer support and logistics, and invested heavily in AI systems and machine learning.

Similarly, Fiverr has already automated some of its processes, like ordering, payments, and delivery. It also clarified that the amount saved from the layoffs will be reinvested in the business (AI upgrades).

As it's a self-service platform, it doesn't need much staff in the first place, and the layoffs won't affect Fiverr's operations or users. 

Micha Kaufman Take On AI

Back in May, in an internal email, Micha Kaufman said, “AI is coming for your jobs. Heck, it’s coming for my job too.”

He cautioned the employees, saying that, “Unless you become an exceptional talent — a master — you will face the need for a career change in a matter of months.”

During the layoff heat, he sent a letter to employees saying, "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.”

Final Thoughts…

Micha Kaufman was clear with his standpoints and openly stated how AI is coming for his job, too. The layoffs in Fiverr’s case are not a sudden or drastic one. The cautions were all there months prior.