“In trying to do too many things at once, we have grown our organization at a breakneck pace over the past few years,” Airtable CEO and co-founder Howie Liu said in the note to staff. “We will continue to emphasize growth, but do so by investing heavily in the levers that yield the highest growth relative to their cost.”

Unlike many other tech layoffs of late, the company’s note did not acknowledge broader economic issues as part of the layoffs — and only alluded to outsized growth in recent years. Companies across the tech space, from this week’s Plaid layoffs to layoff rounds at tech giants Meta and Salesforce, acknowledged that the rapid expansion that came with the COVID-19 pandemic was unfeasible in 2022 as pandemic restrictions lifted and demand declined. TechCrunch noted that this is the first round of layoffs for the nascent tech startup, which was valued at $11 billion in December 2021.

TechCrunch also reported Thursday that Airtable Chief Revenue Officer Seth Shaw, Chief People Officer Johanna Jackman and Chief Product Officer Peter Deng are parting ways with the company. It's unclear if these executives were part of the layoffs; a spokesperson for Airtable did not respond when asked by SFGATE about their departures, referring to the internal memo.  

Laid-off employees will receive 16 weeks of severance pay with two additional weeks for every year worked at Airtable, accelerated equity vesting, six months of health care, and immigration support for H1-B visa workers.

In September, Liu purchased a $31 million house in Beverly Hills.

Read the full report here