Stack Overflow, a well-known forum for coding assistance, is cutting down its workforce by 28% as it aims to become profitable. CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar announced on October 16 that the company will primarily trim its “go-to-market” sales force and other supporting and related teams.
The rise and shift in workforce
In an interview with The Verge, Chandrasekar revealed that the company had doubled its employee count last year, with nearly 45% of those new hires being part of the go-to-market sales team. This team, he noted, was “clearly the largest” within the company.
AI and its impact on coding forums
The layoff news comes roughly a year after Stack Overflow had aggressively expanded its workforce, reaching a size of over 500 employees. Although the company did not provide specific reasons for the layoffs, the move coincides with the rise of generative AI technology. This technology has led to the integration of chatbots in various segments of the tech industry, including coding. The increasing prevalence of AI-based coding tools challenges the traditional role of forums like Stack Overflow, as developers rely more on AI for coding assistance.
AI-generated answers have been another hurdle for Stack Overflow. Last December, the company banned users from submitting answers generated by AI chatbots. This ban led to a prolonged strike by the site’s moderators, which was only resolved in August. Despite these challenges, the ban remains in effect, and the company has begun to charge AI companies for training their algorithms on its platform.
