Bending Spoons says the Airtable employees it laid off are leaving with “substantial separation packages,” but it has not published what is in them. Figures going around online, such as 16 weeks of pay and a year of health coverage, are not in any company statement or news report we could find. Here is what is confirmed, what is not, and how to check your own package.
What Bending Spoons and Airtable have said
- The packages: Airtable’s product lead Alessandro Savarese wrote that the people being cut will leave by the end of the week with “substantial separation packages” (Airtable newsroom; Business Insider via Yahoo Finance).
- The numbers: not disclosed. A Bending Spoons spokesperson said it could not share how many people are affected.
- Timing: announced on October 12, 2026, with employees leaving by the end of that week.
- A pattern: after its Vimeo layoff in January 2026, a Bending Spoons spokesperson said that “to respect the privacy of those departing,” it could not provide more details (Gizmodo).
The terms circulating online: what we could and could not confirm
A widely shared post lists four items. We checked each against company statements and news reports.
| Claim | What we found |
|---|---|
| Up to 16 weeks of salary | Not found in any company statement or report on the 2026 layoffs. The “16 weeks” number appears in Offboard’s summary of Airtable’s earlier rounds, but the Computerworld report it cites for those rounds does not mention severance. |
| Health insurance for up to 12 months | Not found. |
| Pro-rated performance bonuses | Not found. |
| Visa support for international staff | Not found for 2026. |
That does not mean the terms are wrong. Separation agreements are private, and some employees may well have received these terms. It means they are unverified, and you should rely on your own agreement, not on a post.
Why packages can differ from person to person
- Country: Airtable has employees in several countries. Staff outside the US are covered by their own country’s rules on notice and severance, which can change what the company must offer.
- Role and tenure: most packages scale with years of service. Executives and people on visas often get different terms.
- Notice rules: in the US, employers that must file a WARN notice owe 60 days of notice or pay in lieu (U.S. Department of Labor). In California, state filings are listed by the Employment Development Department. We watch these in our WARN notice tracker and on the Airtable page.
What 16 weeks of pay would be worth: an example
This is an illustration, not Airtable’s offer. The formula is weekly pay times weeks. With a $150,000 base salary, one week is about $2,885, so 16 weeks is about $46,154 before tax. Severance is generally taxed as supplemental wages, and the IRS describes a flat 22% federal withholding rate for most supplemental payments (IRS Topic 412). Your actual take-home depends on your state and your other income.
To compare an offer with what other tech employers have paid, put your numbers in our severance calculator. It shows the formula and real benchmarks, such as Meta and Google at 16 weeks plus 2 weeks per year of service. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Before you sign
- Read the agreement fully. Packages usually come with a release of legal claims.
- Know your time. If you are 40 or older, federal law requires at least 21 days to consider a waiver of age claims, 45 days if the layoff is part of a group program, plus 7 days to revoke after signing (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
- Check health coverage. If the company pays part of your premiums for a period, ask whether it is paid directly or reimbursed. Read our guide on how long health insurance lasts after a layoff.
- Ask what is negotiable. Extra weeks, equity vesting and references can sometimes be added. See how to negotiate severance.
- Plan your retirement account. See what to do with your 401(k) after a layoff.
This article is general information, not legal advice. For your own agreement, talk to an employment lawyer.
Related
Sources
- Airtable: Back to bases, what’s next at Airtable
- Business Insider via Yahoo Finance: Airtable’s new owner is laying off a ‘large part’ of its team (October 12, 2026)
- Gizmodo: Vimeo layoffs
- Computerworld: Airtable layoffs (September 2023)
- Offboard: Airtable layoffs and severance on the public record