Cloudflare Cuts 20% of Workforce While Engineering Headcount Rises 45%

Cloudflare grew its engineering staff from 1,308 in December to 1,894. CEO Matthew Prince linked the change to AI's effect on job categories within the company.

1 source·Jun 27, 10:01 AM(6 hrs ago)·1m read

Cloudflare Cuts 20% of Workforce While Engineering Headcount Rises 45%

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Business Insider reported that Cloudflare cut 20% of its workforce earlier in 2026 yet increased its engineering headcount by 45%. The company employed 1,308 engineers in December. That figure reached 1,894, according to BNP Paribas data drawn from LinkedIn.

CEO Matthew Prince confirmed the increase. Prince stated that AI is not killing tech jobs. Separate figures from TrueUp showed open tech roles posted by tech companies up 14% so far in 2026, while open hardware engineering roles jumped 52%.

Prince divided company roles into builders, sellers, and measurers. Builders create products and remain secure, he said, adding that greater AI-driven productivity among engineers would lead him to hire more of them. Sellers stay essential because customers prefer buying from trusted people.

Measurers, who track and coordinate work, face the largest reductions. Most of the earlier layoffs at Cloudflare targeted measuring roles. These included middle managers, operations, finance, and marketing positions.

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