MW CrowdStrike lays off 500 in latest example of AI costing people their jobs

By Steve Gelsi

Cybersecurity company is the latest to indicate it won't need to hire as many people to grow because of AI

Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. is cutting 500 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce, as it responds to both the security threat posed by artificial intelligence and the growing use of AI to move faster and operate more efficiently.

It's the latest example of how AI is disrupting the software business, following comments from Duolingo Inc. $(DUOL)$ and a report that Shopify Inc. (SHOP) would limit hiring only for those positions that could not be done by AI.

Also read: Here's why unemployment in software coding and programming is so high

CrowdStrike's stock $(CRWD)$ fell 2.3% in premarket trading on Wednesday. The stock is down 5.9% in 2025, while the Nasdaq COMP has fallen 8.4%.

Chief Executive George Kurtz said in a letter to employees on Wednesday that the company, with 10,000 employees, would continue to "prudently hire" in product engineering and customer-facing roles while reducing roles in other areas of the business.

"Today, our customers are facing an intensifying threat landscape and growing complexity," Kurtz said. "They trust us to help them move faster and operate more securely. To keep earning that trust, we are evolving how we operate."

The changes will help CrowdStrike "move faster, operate more efficiently, and continue our cybersecurity leadership," Kurtz said.

CrowdStrike's investments in AI have already been "foundational" to the company, he said.

"AI flattens our hiring curve, and helps us innovate from idea to product faster," Kurtz said. "It streamlines go-to-market, improves customer outcomes, and drives efficiencies across both the front and back office. AI is a force multiplier throughout the business."

AI affects hiring at Duolingo, Shopify

CrowdStrike's move comes after Duolingo Chief Executive Luis von Ahn said April 28 that the company would "gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle."

He compared the company's shift to AI to its decision 13 years ago to embrace mobile apps - a move that spurred growth.

"Just like how betting on mobile in 2012 made all the difference, we're making a similar call now," von Ahn said. "This time the platform shift is AI."

From now, head-count increases at Duolingo's teams will be approved "only if a team can't automate more on its own," he said.

That's nearly identical to a policy laid out recently by Shopify Chief Executive Tobias Lütke, according to an internal memo reported by The Wall Street Journal.

"Before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI," Lütke said, according to the WSJ report. "What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team?"

The online retail store software company is pivoting toward employees with AI skills, he said.

Meanwhile, ManpowerGroup $(MAN)$ said last month that an acceleration in the use of artificial intelligence by employers has led to a relatively high rate of unemployment among software programmers.

Companies are now focusing more on skills development for their employees to prepare them to work with AI.

"So software coding and programming, you can really see how AI has made that much more efficient," Manpower Chief Executive Jonas Prising said. "And you can see it also come through in the unemployment rate for software programmers here in the U.S., which is above 7% right now, and we're at 4.2% unemployment for the country."

Tomi Kilgore contributed to this report.

-Steve Gelsi

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May 07, 2025 08:33 ET (12:33 GMT)

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