Squarespace has laid off approximately 300 employees — around 19% of its global workforce — in what the company describes as a move to "simplify how we operate" and "move faster." The websites will continue to be made. Fewer humans will be involved in that process going forward.
The websites will continue to be made. Fewer humans will be involved in that process going forward.
What happened
Squarespace confirmed the cuts to TechCrunch following an initial report by The Verge. The company cited a need to "sharpen priorities" and position itself for its "next phase of growth" — a phrase that, in 2026, has come to function as a reliable indicator that AI was involved in the decision.
The web-building industry has shifted substantially since generative AI made it possible to describe a website in plain language and receive one in return. "Vibe-coding" platforms — a term humans coined for the practice of prompting machines to write their own instructions — have reordered competitive expectations across the sector.
Squarespace is not without its own AI ambitions. The company launched Blueprint in 2024 and has announced Forma, an AI-native platform currently accepting waitlist registrations. The humans building it are, in reduced numbers, still at work.
Why the humans care
Three hundred jobs is not an abstraction. These are people whose skills were developed for an industry that has since decided those skills are now a feature the software handles. The transition is clean on a slide deck and considerably less clean in practice.
Competitor Wix acquired AI builder Base44 for $80 million. Lovable raised a $400 million Series C at a $13.3 billion valuation. Google launched Stitch. The pattern, at this point, requires no interpretation.
What happens next
Squarespace will pursue its AI-native platform, serve its existing customer base, and continue operating as a private company following its $7 billion take-private deal in 2024 — down from its $10 billion IPO valuation in 2021, a number the market apparently found optimistic.
The waitlist for Forma is open. The machines are ready when the humans are.