Wix is set to lay off approximately 1,000 employees, or about 20% of its workforce, due to poor first-quarter results and a decline in its stock price.

Wix, the Israeli-based website building service, is reportedly embarking on a massive workforce reduction following poor performance and a decline in its stock price since the beginning of the year. Approximately 1,000 employees, or about 20% of its workforce, are expected to be laid off over the next few months, making it the company's largest-ever layoff.

Wix plans 800-1,000 layoffs - Globes
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-wix-plans-800-1000-layoffs-1001543841

Wix to cut 1,000 jobs in largest layoff round in company history | Ctech
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/b1oebi11xge

In February 2026, Wix notified its employees in Israel and around the world to return to full-time, five-day-a-week office work. This measure was explained as being to accelerate development and response, but the Israeli daily business newspaper Globes pointed out that 'the return to the office was part of a broader organizational restructuring.'

According to a Globes source, Wix is planning its largest-ever layoff, involving 800 to 1,000 employees. The layoffs are expected to affect thousands of employees not only in Israel but also around the world.

Poor performance and a decline in stock price are likely reasons for the layoffs. Wix's revenue for the first quarter of 2026 was $541 million (approximately 86 billion yen), up 14.3% year-over-year, but it fell into a net loss due to increased marketing expenses and investments in new AI products.

Following the earnings announcement, Wix's stock price fell 5% in late trading. Wix launched a $1.6 billion share buyback program in March 2026 to restore investor confidence, but this reduced its cash on hand to $900 million while failing to meet its goal of increasing market capitalization.

Furthermore, the technological pressures arising from the development of AI are also considered to be a cause of the workforce reductions. In June 2025, Wix acquired Base44, an AI-powered programming platform founded by Israelis, announcing it as the most important step in expanding its business beyond traditional website building and deepening its presence in the AI field. While this acquisition boosted Wix's performance, it required significant investment in marketing and computing costs, and since it is a category that does not require a large workforce, it is possible that the company resorted to workforce reductions as a cost-cutting measure.

Wix, a website creation service, acquires Base44, an AI-powered, no-code app development platform, for approximately 12 billion yen - GIGAZINE

Wix has been accused in the past of stealing code from WordPress, a leading open-source blog software and content management system, and then concealing that fact. In 2016, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg stated in a blog post that 'the Wix mobile app is a co-development of WordPress' and criticized Wix, saying that 'Wix is clearly violating the open-source GPL license.'

Furthermore, Mullenweg later criticized Wix as 'extremely unsecurity-conscious and, to my knowledge, the only website builder that doesn't allow content export.' Because users cannot export their content and reuse it on other services once they've created a homepage with Wix, they are left with only two options: continue using Wix or abandon their site. In a 2021 blog post, Mullenweg predicted Wix's decline, stating, 'I believe that in the long run, users will come to value the open-source community, and perhaps this is why Wix is being overtaken by its competitors in market share. Wix continues to show its true colors, but I think any product should consider how people view the actions of the company they're financially supporting.'