Mercado Livre Cuts 119 Roles as AI Reshapes UX Teams

Overview

• Mercado Livre eliminated 119 positions across Latin America, including 38 in Brazil, with most notifications delivered on January 8 in short-notice meetings.
• The reductions were concentrated in user-experience functions and primarily affected UX writers.
• Remaining UX staff were told they will receive new AI text-production tools, and designers are expected to absorb some writing tasks.
• The company describes the action as a punctual measure that does not change its regional growth strategy, citing 42,000 hires in 2025.
• AI has long supported risk, fraud, and recommendations at the company and expanded into UX in 2025 with training and usage tracking, as cofounder Marcos Galperin shifted from CEO to focus on AI initiatives.