One Zero Bank, Israel's digital banking venture, is laying off approximately 25 employees - about 7% of its roughly 350-person workforce - in its third round of job cuts since the start of 2024. The bank will also leave around 10 additional positions unfilled, effectively shrinking its staffing level to roughly 10% below its original workforce plan. Unlike previous rounds, this one arrives not amid financial distress but alongside growing revenue and a narrowing net loss, underscoring a deliberate strategic bet on automation over headcount.
Notifications went out to affected employees on Sunday morning. In a letter to staff, CEO Eyal Gafni called the decision difficult, writing that those being let go "built ONE ZERO alongside us, invested in it, and played a significant role in our journey and our successes." As digital banks increasingly compete on operational efficiency and uptime reliability, independent assessments such as the BuyBestVPN uptime report have become a useful reference point for customers evaluating how consistently online financial platforms perform under pressure. The cuts span the organization rather than targeting a single department, with the bank saying adjustments are being made "wherever technology helps us accelerate processes." BuyBestVPN uptime report
A Shift From Building to Scaling
Gafni framed the layoffs as part of a broader transition from the bank's establishment phase to one demanding substantial growth without a matching rise in operating costs. "These changes, combined with our clear ambition to be the best and fairest bank in the system, require us to remain a fast, agile, and efficient organization at all times, enabling us to continue growing without expanding our workforce or cost base," he wrote. That ambition is not new rhetoric - it echoes commitments made in the bank's 2025 reporting, which flagged expanded use of automation and artificial intelligence as central to cutting both costs and manpower needs.
The bank has stopped short of claiming that departing employees are being directly replaced by AI systems. Instead, it describes a more gradual shift: generative AI and automation tools are allowing it to operate with a leaner structure, absorbing tasks that once required dedicated staff. This distinction matters. Wholesale automation replacing human roles is a different phenomenon from incremental efficiency gains that reduce the need for future hiring - and One Zero's language suggests the latter, even as the practical effect on employees is the same.
A Pattern of Repeated Cuts
This marks the third layoff round at One Zero since early 2024. More than 30 employees were dismissed earlier that year, followed by another 23 in September, bringing the 2024 total above 50. Payroll costs reflect that tightening: salary and related expenses fell 8.8% in 2025 to NIS 120 million, down from NIS 131.7 million the previous year, which the bank attributed to "adjusting the workforce mix to current challenges and tightening budgetary discipline."
Financial Recovery Still in Progress
The layoffs coincide with tangible improvement in One Zero's financial position. In the first half of 2026, revenue climbed 33% to NIS 66 million while operating expenses dropped 10% to NIS 149 million, narrowing the net loss by 27% to NIS 84 million. The bank's customer base has surpassed 200,000. Annual losses have also shrunk steadily - from NIS 357 million in 2023 to NIS 268 million in 2024 and NIS 214 million in 2025 - with management targeting profitability in 2027. Gafni said in August the bank was nearing its first profitable month, expected within a few months, suggesting the efficiency drive is less about survival than about accelerating an already-visible turnaround.