Social media company, Snap, on February 5 stated that it would lay off 10 percent of its global workforce, which is around 500 employees. As per reports, the company is reducing their numbers in order to reduce hierarchy and promote in-person collaboration.
As per regulatory filing, Snap has the expectation that it would incur charges ranging from $ 55 million to $ 75 million. The revenue of Snapchat, like Google and Facebook, is dependent on digital advertising spend.
This is not the first time the social media company has initiated layoffs. In August 2022, 20 percent of the staff was laid off and its business lines were restructured.
However, Snap is one out of many tech companies to have initiated the process of layoffs this year. In January this year, tech companies like Google, Microsoft, UPS (global shipping and logistics firm), Amazon and Accenture along with the startups laid off more than 30,000 employees. UPS accounts for 40 percent of the overall layoffs in tech companies, stated a media report. They laid off over 12,000 employees within a month. Over 1000 and 2500 employees were laid off by Google and PayPal. Other tech firms like YouTube, Discord, TikTok, ebay and Pixar laid off over 5000 employees.
Food delivery app Swiggy and e-commerce company Flipkart laid off 400 and 1000 employees. Edtech company Byju’s and fintech company are going through a deep financial crisis and IT corporation Wipro announced that it would let go of hundreds of mid-level employees in order to boost its profit margins.
In December 2023, reports highlighted that in a cost cutting measure, Paytm laid off 1000 of employees, and the edtech platform Byju’s gave a pink slip to 500 employees.