Wix founder, partner and CEO Avishai Abrahami confirmed Thursday that the company will lay off 20% of its workforce, about 1,000 employees, in the largest round of cuts in the Israeli company’s history.
“Today is a sad day for me,” Abrahami wrote to employees. “We made a very difficult decision. I am parting from people who have worked with me for many years, many of whom I call friends.”
Abrahami said the company had “no choice” but to make the move, arguing that Wix must adapt to two major pressures: the strengthening of the shekel against the dollar and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.
Because much of Wix’s workforce is based in Israel, many of its costs are in shekels, while its revenues are in dollars. “This is structural pressure on our ability to operate at our current size,” he wrote.
The second factor, Abrahami said, is AI. “We are witnessing the most significant change in how companies are built since the invention of modern programming languages in the 1970s,” he wrote. “This is not just the adoption of new tools. It is a deep operational and mindset shift.”
Abrahami said Wix is moving to a flatter organizational structure with fewer management layers, in order to shorten the distance between management and junior employees and allow faster decision-making. He added that the company is already integrating new roles built around AI-driven work.
The layoffs come after months of pressure on the company. Wix shares have fallen about 50% since the start of 2026, leaving it with a market value of about $2 billion, compared with a peak of nearly $20 billion in 2021.
In the first quarter, Wix reported revenue of $541.2 million, up 14.3% from the same period last year but below expectations, alongside a net loss of $57.5 million. Operating expenses jumped 50% to $423 million.
“You worked for years at the company and built things we are truly proud of,” Abrahami wrote to employees. “I am personally grateful for what you created. The way we part says no less about us than everything we built together.”
He ended with a warning: “If we do not make this change, we will fail in our duty to our users, shareholders and employees. Today’s decision is meant to ensure that we are here, stronger and more capable, for years to come.”
Wix is not the only Israeli tech company cutting jobs as it restructures around AI. Israeli fintech company Rapyd, which develops an international payments platform and is the main sponsor of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s basketball team, is also preparing for layoffs. The company employs more than 700 people in Israel, though the exact number of affected workers is not yet clear.
In an internal email sent to employees, Rapyd CEO Arik Shtilman said the company was carrying out a “reorganization” to adapt to a fundamental change in its business model, driven by the growing integration of AI.
Rapyd said it remains profitable and is in a “strong position,” adding that its move to AI-based infrastructure had improved business performance and efficiency.
Rapyd was founded in 2016 by Arik Shtilman, Arkady Karpman and Omer Priel. It has carried out several rounds of layoffs in recent years, including a 20% workforce cut in 2023 and another 30 layoffs in 2024.