Layoffs in Spain

Glovo laid off 22 employees on 2024-05-25.

Cabify, the Spanish mobility and VTC company, laid off approximately twenty employees in Spain between January and April 2024. This move is part of an internal restructuring and team reorganization, described as a labor reordering that aligns with broader financial realignment efforts. The layoffs, while small in number, are linked to the company's strategic shift toward improving its EBITDA and operational metrics, as it prepares for a potential future IPO—a plan announced in 2023 but since postponed. Amidst these changes, Cabify has also secured significant funding and renegotiated debt, all while transitioning from its major shareholder Rakuten. The restructuring reflects a focus on financial sustainability and a revised compensation model emphasizing performance bonuses.

Glovo laid off 25 employees on 2024-04-12.

Verse representing approximately 100% of its workforce on 2023-08-07.

Factorial, a Spanish HR tech unicorn valued over $1 billion, laid off more than 20 employees in July 2023. This follows the company's dismissal of its chief product officer in June. While the company cites excessive bureaucratization as the reason, internal sources point to concerns over growth rates. Despite raising over €100 million in 2022, Factorial's growth slowed to 2.8 times its 2022 figures, missing its internal target of tripling revenue. The layoffs reflect strategic adjustments amid a challenging tech investment climate, impacting a small portion of its workforce, which numbers in the hundreds.

Domestika, the U.S.-based online learning platform, is planning to lay off 89 employees in Spain, affecting 45% of the 198-person workforce at its Madrid subsidiary Dmstk SL. The company cites economic, organizational, and production reasons, including the impact of macroeconomic conditions and automation through AI tools like ChatGPT. Notably, 22 translation roles and 9 marketing content positions are being cut due to automation, with only a few remaining staff to oversee AI-generated output. The layoffs, part of an ongoing negotiation process, follow around 100 dismissals by the company in Spain last year. Despite raising over $100 million in 2022 and reporting global revenue of approximately $60 million, Domestika continues to streamline operations in response to technological shifts and sector-wide pressures.

Glovo, a Spanish on-demand delivery startup, laid off 250 employees, representing approximately 6.25% of its global workforce of around 4,000. The layoffs, announced in June 2022, were part of a restructuring effort to streamline operations and achieve profitability amid challenging market conditions in the tech and delivery industry. The company, operating at a global scale, cited the need to adapt its organizational structure to ensure long-term sustainability and focus on core markets.

In January 2023, Barcelona-based food delivery company Glovo announced layoffs affecting 6% of its workforce, totaling 250 employees out of approximately 3,900. The company cited the macroeconomic downturn, including rising inflation and reduced consumer spending, as the primary reasons, alongside a need to address inefficiencies from its rapid 40% year-on-year growth. This decision followed shortly after Glovo faced significant fines from the Spanish government for alleged labor law violations and is under EU investigation for antitrust concerns, though the company stated the layoffs were unrelated to these penalties. As a scaleup in the European tech and food delivery industry, Glovo also plans to cut operational expenses and limit hiring to critical roles through mid-2023.

Wallbox, an electric vehicle charging company, is laying off 15% of its workforce as part of a broader cost-cutting initiative aimed at saving 50 million euros annually. The job cuts, announced in early 2023, are a response to global supply chain challenges that have impacted EV delivery rates and the company's operations. This restructuring is intended to better align the company with its 2023 financial guidance. While the exact number of affected employees wasn't specified, the reduction is being balanced between operational and personnel expenses to strengthen Wallbox's long-term competitive position in the automotive and EV industry.

Domestika, a Spanish-founded online learning platform valued as a unicorn, is facing allegations of a disguised mass layoff. Affected employees claim approximately 150 workers were dismissed globally in April 2022, including at least 70 in Spain, which would represent roughly 19% of its reported global workforce of about 800. The company's CEO has disputed this scale. The layoffs, conducted remotely via phone, followed a period of extraordinary pandemic growth and a recent $110 million funding round. Thirty-three dismissed employees in Spain have united in a legal challenge, arguing the firings constitute an unlawful collective dismissal. The company operates in the edtech industry.