Airtable Layoffs: Bending Spoons Cuts a Large Part of the Team, and the Backlash

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Bending Spoons is laying off a large part of Airtable’s staff, about five weeks after completing its $1.285 billion acquisition of the software company. The announcement, posted on X on October 12, 2026 by Federico Simionato, who leads product at Bending Spoons, drew more than 300 replies within hours, many of them critical of how it was written: the layoffs and a list of upcoming features shared the same post. Bending Spoons has not said how many people are affected.

What Bending Spoons and Airtable said

In his post, Simionato wrote that the cuts are “not a reflection of their work” but of the company’s “deep belief that small teams ship more and better”. He listed what comes next for Airtable: a new Core team shipping top customer requests every month, which he said had already shipped more than 30 improvements in three weeks; upgrades to Omni, Airtable’s AI assistant, plus Airtable Canvas, a stronger MCP and bring-your-own agents; and new Performance and Infrastructure teams to speed up bases and raise limits. He ended with a note to those leaving: if you are hiring, “these are excellent people and worth a call.”

A post on Airtable’s newsroom by its new product lead, Back to bases: What’s next at Airtable, confirmed that Airtable is “parting ways with a large portion of the pre-acquisition team”, who will leave by the end of the week with substantial separation packages, and that it has brought in experienced engineers, product managers and designers from other Bending Spoons companies.

A layoff five weeks after closing

Source: Bending Spoons press releases filed with the SEC on Form 6-K (August 4, September 4 and September 10, 2026) and Airtable’s newsroom.

At the time of the deal, Airtable said more than 500,000 organizations, including 80% of the Fortune 100, use its platform.

Why the post sparked a backlash

The post passed 700,000 views within hours. We reviewed 28 replies from other users posted in the first hours, excluding Simionato’s own responses, and grouped them by their main point. This is a sample of the conversation, not a survey.

Today we’re laying off a large part of the Airtable team.

This is not a reflection of their work but a reflection of our deep belief that small teams ship more and better.

For Airtable, better is about to look like:
– A new Core team shipping your top requests monthly (already 30+ shipped in 3 weeks)
– Upgraded Omni, Airtable Canvas, a stronger MCP, and BYO agents, coming soon
– New Performance and Infra teams focusing on speeding up bases and increasing limits on records, fields, and syncs

To everyone leaving: thank you. If you’re hiring, these are excellent people and worth a call.

— Federico Simionato (@fedesimio) October 12, 2026

The tone. Almost half of the replies we reviewed criticized how the news was delivered. Several users said the layoff and the feature list should have been two separate posts, and that pairing them told the people leaving “exactly where they rank”, in one user’s words. Others called it tone-deaf or lacking empathy.

The private equity comparison. Some users described the move as a private-equity-style playbook, and one noted it came about a month after the acquisition. Simionato replied directly: “We’re not PE,” adding that Bending Spoons works on the products it acquires “as much as Google does with YouTube or Meta does with Instagram.”

The “small teams” argument. A few replies turned the company’s logic around: if small teams ship better, why not organize the same people into more small teams and ship more?

Customers. Some users worried about higher prices or said they were moving to alternatives. Bending Spoons has not announced pricing changes for Airtable.

Simionato also responded to the criticism that the post celebrated the cuts: “Not celebrating at all. It’s a hard day for good people. I’d rather be upfront about why than vague about it.”

Will there be a WARN notice?

Airtable is based in San Francisco. Under the federal WARN Act and California’s own law, large layoffs at a single site generally require 60 days’ notice, or pay in lieu of notice. The latest California file we checked runs through October 7, before the announcement, and has no Airtable notice. New filings appear on our California WARN notices tracker and on Layoffs today; see layoff notice requirements by state for the rules.

If you were laid off from Airtable

• Read the separation agreement before signing; our guide on how to negotiate severance explains what to check. If you are 40 or older, federal law gives you at least 45 days to consider a waiver in a group layoff.
• Plan your health coverage: COBRA and marketplace options.
• File for unemployment as soon as your job ends.
• Look at where hiring is growing: the fastest-growing jobs.

When you sell to Bending Spoons, most of your team will be promptly laid off.

This may be capitalism and may be necessary for Bending Spoons to hit its 25%+ unlevered IRR goals.

But certainly, most of Airtable and Miro employees losing their jobs is a bitter pill to swallow.

👉 Airtable had 935 employees when it signed. The entire Bending Spoons core team is smaller than that.

— Jason ✨👾SaaStr.Ai✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) October 12, 2026

Airtable joins the Tech Layoff Tracker 2026, where every tech layoff this year is listed with its source.

Frequently asked questions

How many people did Airtable lay off?

Bending Spoons and Airtable have not given a number. Airtable said it is parting ways with a large portion of the pre-acquisition team, who will leave by the end of the week with substantial separation packages.

Who owns Airtable?

Bending Spoons, a Milan-based technology company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker BSP. It completed its acquisition of Airtable on September 4, 2026, for an enterprise value of $1.285 billion, which it said implied an equity value of about $2.25 billion.

Why is Bending Spoons cutting Airtable jobs?

Federico Simionato, who leads product at Bending Spoons, said the layoffs reflect a belief that small teams ship more and better, not the work of the people leaving. Airtable said it has added experienced engineers, product managers and designers from other Bending Spoons companies.

Why are people criticizing the Airtable layoff announcement?

Many replies objected to announcing layoffs and a product roadmap in the same post, saying it felt cold toward the people leaving. Others compared the move to private equity tactics, worried about price increases, or questioned why smaller teams would be better.

Sources

• Federico Simionato on X, October 12, 2026
• Airtable newsroom, Back to bases: What’s next at Airtable
• Bending Spoons, agreement to acquire Airtable (Form 6-K, August 4, 2026)
• Bending Spoons, completion of the Airtable acquisition (Form 6-K, September 4, 2026)
• Bending Spoons, agreement to acquire Miro (Form 6-K, September 10, 2026)