Squarespace is laying off about 19% of its global workforce, roughly 300 employees, as the website-building giant restructures to compete in the age of AI.
Squarespace (Credits: TechCrunch)
Squarespace Lays Off 19% of Staff, Citing Restructuring
Jeff Seedman, a public relations specialist representing Squarespace, confirmed the layoffs to TechCrunch after The Verge first reported them.
“Squarespace is restructuring its organization and reducing its global workforce by approximately 19%, representing around 300 employees,” Seedman said. “The changes are intended to simplify how we operate, sharpen our priorities and enable the company to move faster as we position Squarespace for its next phase of growth.”
How AI “Vibe Coding” Upended the Website Builder Industry
The layoffs come as the website-building industry is being upended by the generative AI boom. “Vibe-coding” builders that spin up functional front-end designs from simple prompts have changed the game, with offerings like Lovable — which raised a $400 million Series C in August at a $13.3 billion valuation — drawing huge investor interest.
Rival Wix bought Base44 for $80 million last year, and Google recently launched Stitch, a feature for generating UI designs quickly.
Squarespace has pushed into AI itself, launching the Blueprint AI tool in 2024 and recently announcing Forma, an upcoming AI-native platform now taking waitlist signups.
Founded in 2004, Squarespace went public in 2021 at a $10 billion valuation before going private again in a $7 billion private equity deal in 2024.
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Source: TechCrunch — read the full story there.
