GitHub shifts to fully remote working model

GitHub has announced it plans to lay off 10% of its workforce and shift to a fully-remote work policy as the company looks to cut costs.

The round of layoffs will see around 300 jobs cut from its 3,000-strong workforce as the US-headquartered firm looks to weather growing economic disruption.

In an email circulated to staff, GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke said it will also continue its hiring freeze, first implemented in January, as a means to “protect the short-term health” of the business.

“Today, we are announcing a number of difficult decisions, including saying goodbye to some Hubbers and enacting new budgetary realignments, designed to protect the short-term health of our business while also granting us the capacity to invest in our long-term strategy,” he said.

“Although our entire leadership team has carefully deliberated this step and come to agreement, ultimately, as CEO the decision is mine. I recognise this will be difficult on you all, and we will approach this period with the utmost respect for every Hubber.”

Fully-remote workforce shift

A key focus in GitHub’s cost-cutting measures will include a complete shift to a fully-remote working policy moving forward.

Dohmke said the company will close all of its offices when it reaches the end of its lease, or at a time when the company is operationally capable of vacating sites.

Exact details on the timeline for this fully-remote transition will be shared with staff “as they are finalised”, Dohmke added.

“We have been working to improve our operational efficiency and scale as a business,” he told staff. “One of our decisions is to move toward a fully-remote GitHub. We are seeing very low utilisation rates in our offices around the world, and this decision is a testament to the success of our long-standing remote-first culture.”

“We are not vacating offices immediately, but will move to close all of our offices as their leases end or as we are operationally able to do so.”

Dohmke said that GitHub plans to implement further cost reductions in the coming months, and revealed that two initial decisions will see the firm move laptop refreshes from three years to four years.

Similarly, the company plans to move to Microsoft Teams for video conferencing purposes, which Dohmke revealed will save “significant cost” and help simplify “cross-company and customer conversations”.

This move is expected to be completed by September this year.

Tech layoffs cutting deep

GitHub is the latest in a long string of tech companies to announce layoffs since the beginning of the year as economic disruption wreaks havoc on the global industry.

Microsoft, Salesforce, Amazon, Google, IBM, and Intel have all confirmed widespread cost-cutting measures and layoffs to combat slowing consumer and business demand, and weather the current economic malaise.

Earlier this week, Dell Technologies announced more than 6,600 jobs will be cut, citing slowing demand in the global PC shipment market.

GitHub’s cuts also coincide with an announcement from Yahoo that it plans to eliminate around 1,000 jobs, equivalent to 12% of its workforce, amid plans to restructure its advertising tech division.