Bending Spoons cuts much of Airtable's team five weeks after acquisition
Five weeks after acquiring Airtable, Bending Spoons is laying off a large portion of the team to focus on AI and a leaner structure.
Layoffs · Source: Airtable (official newsroom)
What happened
Bending Spoons is laying off a large part of Airtable's workforce. These cuts come just five weeks after Bending Spoons completed its acquisition of the software platform in early September. The exact number of affected employees has not been disclosed by the company. Affected staff will leave by the end of the current week and will receive substantial separation packages. The acquisition was valued at 1.285 billion dollars according to SEC filings.
Airtable's new product lead, Alessandro Savarese, announced the organizational changes in a company blog post. He stated the decision aims to create a leaner and faster-moving organization with streamlined responsibilities. Bending Spoons has already embedded its own experienced engineers, product managers, and designers into Airtable to take over development. Meanwhile, the customer-facing organization remains entirely intact. Savarese noted that this side of the business was not impacted so they can maintain service delivery for existing users.
The remaining team will focus on three main areas for the rest of 2026 and into 2027. These priorities include continuous improvements to core features, new artificial intelligence capabilities, and centralized account controls for enterprise users. A newly formed internal group called the Speedy Squad has already shipped over thirty updates in the past three weeks. Moving forward, the company plans to introduce new AI tools that work side by side with human colleagues on everyday tasks.
By the numbers
- $1.285 billion — The reported acquisition price of Airtable by Bending Spoons
- 5 weeks — The time between the acquisition closing and the mass layoff announcement
- 30 — The number of product improvements shipped by the new internal team in three weeks
Why it matters
This restructuring shows exactly how quickly a parent company can replace an acquired workforce with its own internal teams. Job seekers targeting acquired companies should note that even highly successful product teams are not immune to post-acquisition cuts. Bending Spoons is prioritizing a smaller team structure, which means there will likely be fewer open roles at Airtable in the near term. The speed of these layoffs highlights the harsh reality that new ownership often brings immediate organizational shifts regardless of past performance.
The shift in strategy also highlights a growing industry trend where companies replace large legacy teams with leaner groups focused heavily on artificial intelligence integration. By keeping the customer service and sales teams intact while cutting the product builders, Bending Spoons is signaling a clear focus on maintaining current revenue. They are choosing to retain the users while parting ways with the original creators. This dynamic creates uncertainty for business customers who rely on the platform for their daily operations, as the core engineering knowledge leaves the building.
Who this hits
Pre-acquisition Airtable employees
A large portion of the staff who built the product before the acquisition is losing their jobs. They will receive substantial separation packages and must leave the company by the end of the week.
Customer-facing teams
Employees in sales, support, and service delivery roles are not impacted by this round of layoffs. The company stated its customer-facing organization remains fully at the disposal of users to ensure stability.
Tech job seekers
Candidates looking for engineering or product roles at Airtable will likely face a hiring freeze. The new parent company is actively moving toward a smaller team model using its existing portfolio staff.
What to do this week
- If you work at a recently acquired company, update your resume and portfolio immediately, even if new leadership promises stability during the transition.
- Pivot your active job search away from tech companies that just underwent major acquisitions, as they frequently face restructuring and hiring freezes shortly after the deal closes.
- For tech workers whose employers rely heavily on Airtable for daily operations, advise your management to back up critical data and monitor product updates closely as the new engineering team takes over.
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My take
I always remind job seekers that corporate acquisitions usually lead to layoffs, but seeing a core product team gutted in just five weeks is a stark reality check. When a parent company buys a software tool, they are often purchasing the loyal customer base, not the employees who originally built it. You must always keep your resume ready and maintain a backup plan if your employer gets acquired.