SUSE cuts about 10% of its 1,900-person workforce, CEO says AI has diminished some roles

Open source software company SUSE told its roughly 1,900 employees on November 2, 2026 that it will cut approximately 10 percent of its global workforce, according to an internal memo seen by The Register. CEO Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen wrote that "automation and AI are fundamentally shifting how software companies operate" and that "the requirement for some existing roles has greatly diminished." Affected staff will be told by November 4. The cuts follow a voluntary separation offer in September and come as owner EQT, which took SUSE private again in 2023, was reportedly weighing a sale. The specific roles at risk were not disclosed. The memo ties the cuts to cost as much as capability, saying the company's "organizational design and cost base" will not carry it forward and that "flatter reporting lines" are part of the change. It fits a wider pattern of private equity-backed software firms citing AI tooling to justify smaller teams, with management layers and operational roles among the first exposed.