Wix Lays Off 20% as AI and Strong Shekel Reshape Israeli Tech

Wix, the Israeli website‑building platform, confirmed Thursday it is cutting roughly 1,000 employees — about 20% of its global workforce — in the largest workforce reduction in the company's history, according to The Times of Israel. The layoffs follow a first‑quarter loss and come as the company invests in AI‑related tools.

CEO Avishai Abrahami cited two driving factors in a message to employees. First, the Israeli shekel has gained more than 20% against the dollar over the past 12 months, reaching a 33‑year high. "As the majority of our teams are Israel‑based, a very meaningful portion of our costs is shekel‑denominated, while our revenue is largely dollar‑denominated," Abrahami wrote. "This creates a structural pressure on our ability to operate at our current scale," according to The Times of Israel. Abrahami's memo was also posted publicly on X and LinkedIn, Fast Company reported.

The second and arguably more consequential reason is AI. Abrahami described "the fast evolution of AI capabilities" and the need to shift to "AI‑native ways of working," stating that companies face a choice: adapt or "risk falling behind," Fast Company reported. "This is not just about adopting new tools — it is about rewiring how companies are built, how they think, how they manage and how they operate," he said.

Wix, founded in 2006 and listed on Nasdaq with a market cap of about $2.2 billion, employed 5,277 people at the end of March, with more than 60% based in Israel. Over the past year the company has acquired Israeli AI‑based app building tools as it pivots its product toward AI‑assisted website creation. Abrahami's memo was shared on X and LinkedIn,.¹

Wix is far from alone. Fintech unicorn Rapyd announced a major restructuring the same day, saying it is transitioning to a business model "operated by AI." CEO Arik Shtilman told employees that "Rapyd is now a company operated by AI. This is not a future goal; it is our current reality," The Times of Israel reported. Rapyd, which employs around 700 people, did not disclose the scale of its layoffs.

Amdocs, the Israeli‑founded software and communications giant, is preparing to cut 10% of its global workforce — as many as 3,000 employees — under new CEO Shimie Hortig. AI21 Labs, the natural language processing startup, is cutting about 60% of its staff to focus on its Maestro AI agent management system. These cuts join a global wave that has already hit Meta, Microsoft, Cisco, Groupon, and Intuit in recent weeks.

The shekel's strength adds a uniquely Israeli dimension to the layoff wave. While U.S. tech giants can offset AI‑driven restructuring costs with dollar‑denominated revenue, Israeli firms face a double squeeze: AI investment demands more spending, while the strong shekel makes their largely shekel‑paid workforce more expensive relative to dollar earnings.

The Israel Manufacturers' Association warned that "without any government action, industry and high‑tech firms will make decisions solely on an economic basis," the Israel Manufacturers' Association stated, The Times of Israel reported. The Bank of Israel has faced growing pressure to intervene and slow the currency's appreciation, which has made Israeli tech salaries among the most expensive in the world relative to revenue.

The Israeli tech layoff wave carries a message for builders everywhere: AI‑native restructuring is no longer theoretical. CEOs are explicitly telling employees that the shift is as significant as the invention of modern programming, and companies that don't rewire themselves around AI will be left behind. Wix, a platform that literally helps people build websites, is now betting that AI will be better at aspects of that job than the humans who've been doing it.

For individual developers, the takeaway is clear: the companies building AI tools are also using AI to reduce their own headcount. The skill that matters most in 2026 isn't just knowing how to build with AI — it's knowing how to build things that AI can't yet do better. The 1,000 Wix employees losing their jobs this week are the latest proof point.