Wix said it is eliminating about 1,000 roles as currency pressure and AI-driven competition weigh on operations, following a sharp stock drop and rising costs after first-quarter earnings.
Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami told employees on May 28 that the company is cutting roughly 20% of its workforce, or about 1,000 positions, in the largest layoff in its history. Abrahami said the move was driven by two main factors: the Israeli shekel’s appreciation against the U.S. dollar, which increases costs because more than 60% of staff are paid in shekels while revenue is largely in dollars, and a major shift toward AI in how software companies are built. The announcement followed a 27% drop in Wix shares on May 13 after first-quarter results missed expectations. Revenue rose 14% year over year to $541 million, but Wix reported a $57.5 million net loss, adjusted earnings of $0.68 per share versus a $1.22 consensus, and operating expenses rising from 21% to 35% of revenue. The company also said professional developer customers were moving to competing AI tools and that gaps in its Wix Harmony platform slowed product updates. Wix plans to flatten management layers and create AI-native roles including “xEngineer” and “Creators,” with headcount expected to fall to about 4,200 after the cuts.