Fiverr Latest Company To Cut Workforce In Place Of AI

Freelance marketplace Fiverr has become the next company planning to lay off staff to become an “AI-first company.”

Fiverr confirmed that 250 jobs, around 30% of its current headcount, will be axed as part of its latest restructuring, headed up by CEO Micha Kaufman.

As of the end of last year, according to Reuters, Fiverr had around 762 employees.

In a letter to staff, Kaufman wrote “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” (Reuters).

 

An All Too Familiar Story

 

Unfortunately, Fiverr isn’t the only company that is losing its workforce to AI.

Just last week, Salesforce announced that it was laying off 4000 of its customer service roles, dropping from 9,000 to a team of 5,000.

Microsoft has also cut 15,000 staff this year, whilst Google has reorganised a number of teams, with AI tools being more regularly used.

In fact, Tech.co has a long list of companies that have publicly announced that AI will be supporting teams more and more – and the list is only getting longer!

Some of the biggest moves this year have included:

Microsoft – more than 9,000 jobs cut in July alone.

Amazon – who has reduced its workforce by 27,000 since the start of 2022.

Intel – plans to lay off up to 21,000 roles, 20% of its workforce.

Indeed & Glassdoor – removing 1,300 jobs.

Peloton – cutting 6% of its workforce in its sixth layoff in just over a year.

HP – cutting 2,000 jobs as part of its recent restructuring.

Meta – announced that it will cut 5% of its staff.

 

Is AI Causing An Unemployment Crisis?

 

As more companies announce layoffs due to AI, the question is: is AI actually starting to take our jobs?

The layoffs are only one side of the coin, on the other is the UK’s current unemployment rate, which stands at 4.7%. And it’s a valid question: If an AI is able to do a job 24/7, for a much lower cost than a human employee, then how can we compete?

 

 

Forbes estimates that by 2040, AI will automate or transform 50-60% of jobs. Whilst that might be good for productivity, it certainly doesn’t help unemployment.

However, when it comes to 2025, the good news is that AI just isn’t good enough yet to do what humans do….most of the time that is.

Research by OpenAI in June 2025 found that its latest models, o3 and o4-mini, hallucinated 33% and 48% of the time. According to the New York Times, the hallucination rates of newer AI systems were as high as 79% – leaving them ripe for error.

Because of this, current AI models may actually be more prone to error than their human counterparts – allowing teams to let out a sigh of relief.

 

What Jobs Are Most Likely To Be Replaced By AI?

 

According to a study by Stanford economists, software developers and customer service workers are two jobs that have already been largely supplemented by AI.

Another study by Microsoft also listed the jobs most and least at risk of being replaced by AI.

Interpreters, translators, historians, passenger attendants and sales representatives were listed as the jobs most at risk of being replaced by generative AI.

The top 10 list included:

1. Interpreters and Translators
2. Historians
3. Passenger Attendants
4. Sales Representatives of Services
5. Writers and Authors
6. Customer Service Representatives
7. CNC Tool Programmers
8. Telephone Operators
9. Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks
10. Broadcast Announcers and Radio DJs

Conversely, more physical jobs like nursing assistants, embalmers and hazardous material workers were named the most AI-safe. (Forbes).

The top 10 list of jobs most safe from AI, according to Microsoft included:

1. Phlebotomists
2. Nursing Assistants
3. Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
4. Helpers – Painters, Plasterers, etc.
5. Embalmers
6. Plant and System Operators, All Other
7. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
8. Automotive Glass Installers and Repairers
9. Ship Engineers
10. Tire Repairers and Changers

 

A Changing Job Market

 

As AI quickly becomes more integrated into our lives, the job market is already responding. In fact, Fiverr’s layoff is part of a rising trend with many tech companies integrating AI to cut costs.

We will wait to see how the job market evolves, and whether AI is set to become a new star employee.