That’s how one software tester described the growing anxiety among quality assurance professionals after announced plans to lay off about 500 employees globally as part of an AI-led restructuring.
For many workers, the layoffs are not just about one company cutting jobs; they are becoming a symbol of a wider fear across the tech industry that AI-driven workflows could steadily replace traditional QA roles.
According to Moneycontrol, in an internal letter to employees dated 6 May, CEO Dennis Woodside wrote: “Today, I have some difficult news to share. To accelerate our biggest growth drivers and move faster in the AI era, we are realigning our global workforce.”
“As a result, we are reducing our global workforce by approximately 11% (~500 employees). We did not make this decision lightly, as this means we will be saying goodbye to many talented colleagues and friends,” he added.
The announcement quickly triggered anxiety among professionals, many of whom fear that AI-led automation is steadily replacing traditional testing roles.
‘QA is always the first hit’: Netizens react to Freshworks layoffs
Speaking to LiveMint on condition of anonymity, one QA professional said: “Both I and the other QA professionals have been let go this week. QA is always the first hit. I’ve been in the game for the past couple of years, and I’m finding it hard now. You sit in a job for a few years, and tech shoots past you, especially when you are stuck testing legacy desktop systems for the past eight years, as I have.”
Another added: “In this kind of situation, management always thinks in ratio, so anything less than 5:1 (dev:qa) is risky these days. Another factor is skill, which they will consider. Plus, it also depends on the team.”
A QA professional who was laid off due to AI-led testing workflows told LiveMint, “I was also let go because they implemented agentic testing workflows. I understand that with AI, testing could become faster and more efficient, reducing QA headcount or allowing them to handle more projects in parallel. But they fired ALL QAs at once, so yeah, good luck relying fully on Devs to thoroughly test things even with AI.”
A Freshworks employee also claimed: “I work at Freshworks, people are getting emails that they are having their last day today. Around 120+ devs were impacted , mostly QA were there”
On Reddit, users also questioned whether companies may be overestimating AI’s current capabilities in software testing.
One Reddit user wrote: “Time is a flat circle. Today, they’re laying off QA, but give it a year or two, and they’ll be hiring when quality drops off a cliff, and customers complain. Then those QA will get laid off in 6-7 years when executives think the next buzzword means they don’t need QA again.”
Another Reddit user said, “AI is not reliable and still needs human oversight. Did they find a magic solution?
They seem to believe so! Tbh even with AI-produced gap analysis, test cases, there were so many things to review, correct and add. Automation scripting has got faster, ngl, but they are missing the most important point: AI is far from perfect and can still miss obvious things. At least that’s what I personally observed while using those workflows for testing.”
“The world has gone nuts, and this AI is the icing on the cake,” another Reddit user wrote.
One more user added: “I see it first-hand. Everyone is leaving QA bc layoffs, or they get offered A PAY CUT. It’s just impossible to make a career out of this”
Amid the backlash and anxiety surrounding the layoffs, the company outlined how impacted employees across regions would be notified.
Which employees are impacted?
The company said employees in North America and would receive emails from their management leaders within 30 minutes clarifying whether their positions had been impacted.
“Due to country-specific regulations, employees in all other regions will be contacted over the coming days in accordance with local practices,” the letter said.
Why is Freshworks cutting jobs?
Explaining the rationale behind the move, Woodside said: “We have strong momentum executing on our strategy: Employee Experience (EX) is growing rapidly as we move upmarket, over half of large deals now include AI, and more than 80% of our Customer Experience (CX) customers have upgraded to our unified Freshdesk Omni.”
“While our business is performing well, the pace of the AI era and recent internal changes have changed how we need to operate,” he wrote.
What did the CEO say about Freshworks’ future?
On the company’s future direction, Woodside said: “This realignment is about ensuring every Freshworks employee is focused on solving the most important problems and driving our growth strategy forward.”
“While our structure is changing, our mission and strategy remain the same. We are uniquely positioned to continue growing across EX, AI and CX and have an even greater impact on our customers and industry,” he added.