GitHub , the well-known software collaboration platform owned by Microsoft, announced that it is laying off up to 10% of its workforce and that all offices, including its headquarters in San Francisco, will be closed.
CEO Thomas Dohmke told employees on Thursday that this round of layoffs will begin immediately and continue through June 30, which marks the end of GitHub's fiscal year. Over time, it is expected that all operations will transition to a remote company model with other cost-saving measures in place.
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GitHub had about 3,000 employees as of last summer. More than a thousand had joined in the previous 12 months. Domke’s memo said that employees weren’t using the offices enough, so there was no need to keep them open. He also informed the remaining “Hubbers” that they would be buying new laptops less frequently and all video conferencing would be shifted to Microsoft’s Teams product.
The official announcement also said that employees who will be laid off will receive transitional compensation and assistance with career services, but will be transferred to COBRA, which allows former employees to continue their employer's health care plan, but they will have to pay the costs out of pocket.
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Microsoft acquired GitHub in 2018. GitHub is primarily a hosting platform for software developers that allows them to collaborate with others and work on open-source projects. It also has tools for security and automated code updates. It facilitates collaboration by providing a platform for users to comment on each other's code and work together on projects without having to be in the same physical location. This helps save time and money when working on complex projects, as teams can communicate and resolve issues from anywhere in the world.
It's worth noting that Microsoft itself has also announced 10,000 job cuts, but it's unclear whether this round of layoffs is part of that total.
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The entire tech industry is currently being hit by mass layoffs in an effort to cut costs. GoogleMeta ,Twitter, Amazon , are some of the companies that have announced layoffs in recent months amid a worsening global economy.
GitHub's cost-cutting moves, Dohmke wrote, "are designed to protect the short-term well-being of business while also providing us with the ability to invest in our long-term strategy."
The CEO thanked employees for their dedication and took personal responsibility for GitHub's decision: "While our entire leadership team has carefully considered this step and reached an agreement, ultimately, as CEO, the decision is mine."
Source: www.sfgate.com
