Atlassian cuts 1,600 jobs to fund accelerated AI investment

Atlassian will cut about 1,600 jobs, roughly 10% of its global workforce, in a restructuring announced on 11 March 2026. The company said the reduction would help fund accelerated investment in artificial intelligence and enterprise sales.

Around 480–500 Australian roles are affected, with cuts spanning research and development and other areas. Atlassian also said the skills it needs are changing as AI becomes more central to its operations and products.

The announcement follows other large, AI-linked reductions in Australian-origin technology companies, including Block’s reported 4,000-job cut and WiseTech Global’s planned 2,000-job reduction. However, a July Australian government report found no evidence of broad, mass AI-driven job losses nationally, with employment in AI-exposed roles still growing more slowly in some areas.

For an employer planning a similar restructure, an AI investment target is not itself a redundancy rationale. Identify the specific work that has genuinely reduced or disappeared, consult affected employees before deciding, and assess reasonable redeployment into roles created or reshaped by the transformation. Keep evidence linking the changed work—not simply the technology project—to each proposed position outcome.