Zeb Evans, the founder and CEO of productivity platform ClickUp, announced layoffs on May 21. The workforce reduction will affect 22% of the total staff, with Evans blaming it on the way artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing the way businesses operate.
In a post shared on X, California-based Evans insisted that the decision to lay off 22% of the company’s total strength was not driven by financial troubles. In fact, he claimed that business is the “strongest it has ever been”.
“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,” he wrote.
‘I made this decision’
Evans said he personally took responsibility for the layoffs, arguing that companies must adapt quickly to the AI era or risk falling behind.
“First, I made this decision and I own it,” he wrote. “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.”
He also pushed back against the idea that the layoffs were part of a cost-cutting exercise, claiming that money saved would flow right back to employees.
“Second, this wasn’t about cutting costs. Most savings from this change will flow directly back into the people who stay,” Evans said.
Million dollar salary bands
Evans said AI would dramatically increase the value created by top-performing employees, and argued that companies would need to rethink traditional salary structures as a result.
In simple terms, he believes a small number of workers who effectively use and manage AI systems could produce exponentially more output than before — and should therefore be paid far more than employees under conventional pay scales.
According to him, ClickUp plans to introduce “million-dollar salary bands” for employees who create “outsized impact using AI”.
“We’re introducing $1 million cash/year salary bands with a path available to nearly everyone in the company if they produce 100x impact by creating or managing AI systems,” Evans wrote.
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He revisited the idea later in the post, saying the higher compensation would apply to employees who successfully increase productivity at scale using AI tools and systems.
“In a world where your best people create 100x impact, you can’t afford to lose them,” Evans wrote. “Compensation bands of today should be thrown out the door.”
What is the ‘100x organisation’?
A major portion of Evans’ post focused on what he called the “100x org”, a restructuring strategy built around AI-driven productivity.
In simple terms, Evans believes companies should no longer be structured around large teams doing repetitive workflows. Instead, he argues that a smaller number of highly skilled employees using AI tools and agents could produce dramatically more work than traditional teams.
“The goal is 100x output,” he wrote. “The roles required to build at the highest level are fundamentally different than they were a year ago.”
According to Evans, simply adding AI tools to existing systems is not enough. He believes that companies need to completely redesign the way teams function, so that AI becomes central to the workflow.
He also pushed back against the common belief that AI automatically boosts productivity across an organisation.
“The common narrative is that AI makes everyone more productive. It doesn’t,” Evans wrote. “Many of the workflows of today, if left unchanged, create bottlenecks in AI systems.”
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As a solution, Evans said companies should focus on building teams where employees primarily manage, direct and review AI systems instead of performing traditional manual work.
The future is not fewer people
Despite the layoffs, Evans insisted that AI would ultimately create different kinds of jobs rather than simply eliminate workers.
“The future is not fewer people,” he wrote. “It’s different work, new roles, and better rewards for those who embrace it.”
He added that ClickUp was trying to position itself ahead of what he believes will become a broader corporate shift.
“Nearly every company will make changes like these,” Evans wrote. “The ones that do it proactively will define what comes next.”
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