SUSE to cut about 10% of its workforce, chief executive cites AI and automation
The German Linux company's chief executive told staff that some roles are no longer needed, according to The Next Web. The roles being cut have not been named.
SUSE, the German Linux company founded in 1992, is cutting about 10% of its workforce, according to The Next Web. The outlet based its report on coverage by Liam Proven of The Register, which saw an internal memo from chief executive Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen.
Van Leeuwen told staff on Monday that AI and automation are changing how software companies work.
“What is clear is that automation and AI are fundamentally shifting how software companies operate.”Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen, SUSE chief executive
He wrote that the company's current structure and cost base will not carry it forward. He said modern tooling already lets teams move faster with less overhead and flatter reporting lines. "The requirement for some existing roles has greatly diminished," van Leeuwen wrote.
SUSE has more than 1,900 employees, according to its owner, the Swedish private equity firm EQT. The Next Web worked out from that figure that the cuts come to around 190 people. SUSE has not posted a statement about the cuts in its newsroom, the outlet reported.
Van Leeuwen called the decisions painful for SUSE's people, its culture and its open source community. He told staff the cuts reflect changing needs, not their talent or commitment.
The cuts add to a list of employers that have linked job losses to AI in recent weeks. The Next Web pointed to plans in the Netherlands to cut 25,000 government jobs, 5,000 job cuts at Barclays and a 5% staff reduction at American Express. On 27 October, SUSE itself announced new agentic AI capabilities for its Linux management tools.
The company's ownership has changed several times. EQT bought the Nuremberg company from Micro Focus in 2018 for $2.5bn, listed it in Frankfurt in 2021 and took it private again in 2023. In March, Reuters reported that EQT was considering selling SUSE, The Next Web noted. Van Leeuwen, a former Red Hat executive, joined SUSE in 2023.
Former SUSE employee Christian Brauner reacted on Mastodon. "It's sad that this pointless churn in the name of profit maximizing keeps happening to a great company," he wrote.
Several things are not yet known. The memo did not say which roles will go. Staff affected will be told by 4 November, The Register reported, and employee representatives will be nominated the next day. One-to-one meetings start next week. The rest of the company will see the strategy for fiscal year 2027 on 16 November.
The cuts follow an earlier step. In September, The Register reported that SUSE had asked long-serving staff whether they would take voluntary separation. The report did not say how many accepted.
