GitLab is cutting approximately 7% of its workforce (around 180 employees), reducing its country presence by up to 30%, and flattening up to three layers of management. CEO Bill Staples frames the restructuring as preparation for the 'agentic era,' where AI agents handle software development tasks. R&D will be reorganized into 60 autonomous teams, and AI agents will be deployed internally to automate reviews and approvals. GitLab's stock dropped ~8% after-hours following the announcement, continuing a 12-month decline from $52 to ~$26. Critics question whether the 'agentic AI' framing is genuine strategy or AI-washed cost-cutting, a pattern seen across the tech sector with over 95,000 job losses in 2026. The company reaffirmed its FY27 financial guidance ahead of a June 2 earnings call.
