Snap Inc. is the latest tech company to begin mass layoffs, as the company announced Monday that it plans to lay off 10% of its total global workforce, or roughly 500 employees.
“In order to best position our business to execute on our highest priorities and to ensure we have the capacity to invest incrementally to support our growth over time, we have made the difficult decision to restructure our team,” the company said in a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission dated February 5.
Snapchat’s parent company said that it plans to incur charges ranging between $55 million and $75 million in the first quarter of 2024 due to mainly severance-related costs.
The layoffs are set to last through Q2 of 2024, dependent on employment laws in certain countries where staff is located.
Snap Inc. had a strong Q3 in 2023, with quarterly revenue of $1.19 billion (up 5% from Q2) and gaining 9 million daily active users in the same period.
Earlier this year, CEO Evan Spiegel sent an internal memo to employees about how the company had “reached a real turning point” and planned to use the rest of 2024 as a “chance to build on all the momentum” he believed the company had developed.
“Technology isn’t going away,” Spiegel penned. “It’s our responsibility to make it more human, more natural, and more seamlessly integrated into our lives so that we can benefit from its positive potential while avoiding the pitfalls. It isn’t just an exciting opportunity – it’s existential.”
The company has struggled with declining revenue over the past two years, most recently cutting 20% of its staff in August 2022 after nearly doubling its workforce during the pandemic.
The company did not specify which departments would be most affected by this round of layoffs.
