Snapchat plans to lay off 20 percent of its employees

Snapchat parent company Snap is reportedly planning to lay off 20 percent of its employees. More than 1,000 of a total of over 6,000 employees have to leave the company. Snap stock has plummeted nearly 80 percent this year.

Snap has apparently been planning to lay off numerous employees for several weeks. Like Tech Magazine The Verge reports, citing insiders, that around 20 percent of the entire workforce will have to leave the company.

According to this, Snap wants to start the layoffs on August 31, 2022. In total, more than 1,000 of a total of over 6,000 employees are affected. Some departments are hit harder than others.

Snapchat: restructuring and mass layoffs

For example, the team that provides developers with the ability to create mini-apps and games within Snapchat is reported to be the hardest hit. There are also said to be deep cuts in the social media app Zenly, which Snap took over in 2017.

The company also wants to downsize its hardware department, which is responsible, among other things, for the Spectacles AR glasses and the Pixy camera drone, which has since been discontinued. Snap’s ad service is also set to be restructured. Snapchat initially did not comment on the layoffs.

Layoffs come as no surprise

While the scale of Snapchat’s planned layoffs is significant, the move comes as little surprise. For example, the company announced in May 2022 that it would suspend new hires and reduce costs. Snap’s stock price fell nearly 80 percent over the course of the year.

Due to the disappointing numbers in the second quarter, Snap was also unable to provide a forecast for the third quarter. After the company had hired massive staff at the beginning of the pandemic, fears of the recession and Apple’s decision on app tracking in iOS apps, among other things, are now fatal for Snap.

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