The key facts

  • Squarespace is cutting about 19% of its workforce — roughly 300 employees
  • The company explains this as a reorganization and preparation for the 'next phase of growth'
  • Its own AI tool Forma is still available only through a waitlist

About the layoffs

Squarespace, a company that helps customers build and host their own websites, is cutting roughly a fifth of its workforce, affecting hundreds of jobs. The layoffs were first reported by The Verge, and Squarespace spokesperson Jeff Sidman confirmed them to TechCrunch: the company is 'restructuring the organization and reducing its global workforce by approximately 19%, which amounts to about 300 employees.' According to him, the changes are meant to 'simplify operations, sharpen priorities, and allow the company to move faster' in its 'next phase of growth.'

Context: the market is changing due to generative AI

Website building has changed dramatically in recent years under the influence of the generative AI boom: 'vibe coding' builders, which only need simple user prompts to create a working interface design, have upended much of the industry. These products are becoming an increasingly central part of the market: last year, rival Wix bought Base44 for $80 million, the startup Lovable raised a $400 million Series C round in August with a valuation of $13.3 billion, and Google launched Stitch , a feature for quickly generating UI designs.

Where Squarespace stands with its own AI tool

At the same time, as TechCrunch notes, Squarespace does not yet have a similar vibe coding tool, although its launch is planned: the company announced the AI platform Forma, which is currently available only through a waitlist. For comparison: Squarespace, founded in 2004, went public in 2021 with a $10 billion valuation, but then struggled to inspire enthusiasm on the public market, and in 2024 it decided to become a private company again in a $7 billion private equity deal.