Signage is displayed at the entrance to the GitHub offices in San Francisco in 2018. Microsoft bought GitHub that year for $7.5 billion in stock.
GitHub, the software collaboration platform owned by Microsoft, is laying off up to 10% of its workforce and closing all of its offices, including its San Francisco headquarters.
Announced Thursday in a note to employees by CEO Thomas Dohmke, this tech layoff round will begin immediately and are scheduled to extend to the end of GitHub’s fiscal year, on June 30. The note also promised a gradual move toward a fully remote company and other “budgetary realignments.”
GitHub had about 3,000 employees as of last summer, according to the company’s diversity report. More than a thousand had joined during the previous 12 months. Domke’s note said that workers aren’t using offices enough to warrant keeping them open, and notified remaining “Hubbers” that they will get new laptops less often and shift all video conferencing to Microsoft’s Teams product. (It is unclear what video chat platform they were using before.)
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The announcement said sacked employees would receive transition compensation and career services assistance, but would be moved to COBRA, a federal insurance benefit that allows workers to stay on their employers’ health care plan but requires them to pay out of pocket. A spokesperson declined to provide more specifics, or to comment on the remaining length of GitHub's lease on its San Francisco headquarters, a sprawling space in South Beach.
Purchased by Microsoft in 2018, GitHub is primarily a hosting platform for software developers — the company puts its community at 100 million strong — to collaborate on code and work on open-source projects. It also boasts tools for security and automated code updates.
Microsoft is also in the midst of a 10,000-job cut, but it's unclear whether this layoff round is part of that total. The broader industry has been wracked by layoffs in recent months, with Bay Area tech giants trimming workforces after years of rapid hiring.
GitHub's cost-cutting moves, Dohmke wrote, are “designed to protect the short-term health of our business while also granting us the capacity to invest in our long-term strategy.” He referred to the importance of the company leading the artificial intelligence charge and helping more customers adopt cloud technology.
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The executive, who previously served as chief product officer, thanked employees for their dedication and bluntly took responsibility for GitHub's direction: “Although our entire leadership team has carefully deliberated this step and come to agreement, ultimately, as CEO the decision is mine.”
Hear of anything going on at GitHub or another tech company? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at [email protected] or on Signal at 628-204-5452.
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Stephen Council is the tech reporter at SFGATE. He has covered technology and business for The Information, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and CalMatters, where his reporting won a San Francisco Press Club award. Signal: 628-204-5452 Email: [email protected]
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