The cleanup cycle
Today we reduced headcount by 22%. The business is the strongest it's ever been. So I think it's important to be direct about what I'm seeing and why.
First, I made this decision and I own it. I did it because the way to operate at the highest level of productivity is changing, and to win the future, ClickUp needs to change with it. …
— Zeb Evans (@DJ_CURFEW), 21 May 2026
ClickUp just cut 22% of its staff while saying the business has never been stronger. Honestly, this feels like a moment of truth for the industry.
Software development, originally an engineering discipline, has recently been flooded with impostors lacking both skills and education. At its peak, companies started hiring people after just a few months of online courses. Many of them learned only how to imitate competence by repeating corporate jargon and trendy buzzwords.
I’ve personally interviewed dozens of so-called frontend developers who had no idea how computers actually work. I’ve also interviewed so-called DevOps engineers who couldn’t even explain the OSI model. And over time we were gradually gaslighted into believing that this is simply the “new division of labor”. Once the AI wave started, it became even worse — people began cheating on interviews like crazy.
Poor leadership turned programming into something closer to management consulting, filled with endless meetings and rituals.
Today feels like the beginning of a cleanup cycle.