Atlassian to cut hundreds of jobs after CEO Scott Farquhar did a recruitment drive across Australia

Aussie tech giant Atlassian has announced it is cutting hundreds of jobs less than six months after one of its CEOs travelled the nation in a motorhome on a massive recruitment drive to recruit 1,000 workers.

The software company announced on Tuesday that 500 full-time employees – or 5 per cent of its workforce – would be made redundant amidst an economic downtown that has significantly affected the industry.

Billionaire co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar – who own more than $500million worth of property – sent an internal letter to staff to explain the ‘difficult decision’ by the company to lay off workers.

‘We have made the difficult decision to rebalance our team to better position Atlassian for the long term,’ the pair wrote.

‘We came to this decision as an executive team and with our board, but ultimately the final call is on us as co-founders. To those who are leaving us: we are deeply sorry.’

Atlassian’s HR, program management and research and insights teams will be worst impacted.

‘To be clear, this decision is not a reflection of Atlassian’s own financial performance, as we will be reinvesting in roles that better support our priorities,’ the co-founders said.

‘This is going to be hard news for every Atlassian to digest. Please take the time you need to process it.

‘As we’ve said before, the calls we make in challenging times need to reflect a future Atlassian we are all building towards. Atlassian’s future remains incredibly bright, with a huge amount of opportunity and possibility ahead of us.’

Mr Cannon-Brookes and Mr Farquhar thanked the outgoing staff for their contribution to Atlassian.

‘We are incredibly sorry for the impact this will have on you and your family,’ they wrote.

Employees who are made redundant will be offered a number of benefits including 15 weeks of severance, plus one week’s pay for each year of employment.

A number of major tech companies have already announced massive job cuts including including Google, Amazon and Meta.

Twitter also laid off hundreds of staff following its takeover by Elon Musk.

The announcement by Atlassian comes six months after the company went on a nationwide recruitment drive to hire new staff, promising them they could work from ‘anywhere’.

Co-founder Scott Farquhar hit the road, driving an Atlassian-branded campervan in a bid to find 1,032 staff to join the company in research and development roles.

‘Atlassian’s work from anywhere policy (Team Anywhere) means many Aussies can realise a dream in tech without having to move,’ a statement from the company said.

Atlassian offers extremely competitive salaries with packages ranging from $100,000 and $150,000, depending on roles and experience.

The company’s recruitment drive began at Sydney’s Martin Place before turning into a road trip.

The so-called ‘AtlassiVan’ visited Canberra, Wollongong, Melbourne, Adelaide, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

The software giant came third in the 2022 Australia’s Best Workplaces list for large companies, with a major perk being it offers financial support to staff to set up their ideal workspace.

Staff are allowed to work from home anywhere and only have to come together to collaborate face to face four times a year.

If they come into the office by bicycle, the company reimburses bike repairs, accessories, and rentals up to an agreed amount.