Layoff Events

TuSimple laid off 150 employees on 2023-12-04.

DwellWell, a startup in the real estate or proptech industry, has shut down, resulting in the layoff of its entire team of 12 employees. The closure was announced by founder Samantha Carow in late 2023, marking the end of a 3.5-year journey that began during the pandemic. While the specific reason for the shutdown wasn't detailed, the post expressed regret to investors and highlighted the challenges of startup ventures. The founder is now taking time off before pursuing new opportunities in 2024.

Spotify, the global music streaming service, announced a significant workforce reduction of approximately 1,500 employees, representing 17% of its total staff. This decision, made in early December 2023, is part of a broader effort to "rightsize" costs after the company expanded aggressively during 2020 and 2021 when capital was cheap. CEO Daniel Ek cited the need to adapt to a slower economic growth environment and more expensive capital, aiming to drive sustainable profitability despite the company recently reporting a quarterly profit. This move follows earlier layoffs and reflects ongoing adjustments within the tech and streaming industry as companies prioritize financial efficiency.

Meow Wolf laid off 8 employees on 2023-12-04.

Bending Spoons laid off the entire staff of Filmic, affecting 22 employees, after acquiring the company in July. The layoffs occurred in November as part of integrating Filmic's product into the Bending Spoons platform, with development continuing under a new team.

In November, Bending Spoons, the Italy-based app developer and parent company, laid off the entire 22-person team at Filmic (stylized as FiLMiC), including its founder and CEO. This represents 100% of the dedicated staff for the mobile video and photo app developer, which was acquired in September 2022. The layoffs were part of Bending Spoons' move to fully integrate the Filmic product into its own platform, shifting development and operations in-house. The company stated that a new dedicated internal team now possesses the necessary knowledge to continue the product's development. This drastic action occurred just over a year after the acquisition, which was initially framed as providing support to grow Filmic's apps.

Domo representing approximately 7% of its workforce on 2023-11-30.

Mojo, a sports-betting startup co-founded by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, is laying off 20% of its staff as part of a strategic shift toward its B2B trading technology, moving away from its consumer-facing business. The company, which had about 95 full-time employees last year, announced the job cuts on November 30, 2023. Backed by $100 million in funding from investors like Thrive Capital, Mojo operates in the competitive and capital-intensive sports-betting industry, where startups face increasing pressure to demonstrate profitability. This restructuring reflects broader challenges in the venture-backed sports-betting market, as Mojo adapts to a changing landscape that demands a clearer path to financial sustainability.

Zepz, the British fintech unicorn behind WorldRemit and Sendwave, has laid off 30 employees, affecting less than 2% of its global workforce of around 1,600. This follows a larger round in May, when the company cut 26% of jobs due to role duplication after acquiring Sendwave. Valued at $5 billion, Zepz cites a focus on profitability and innovation amid a slowdown in digital payments, aiming to streamline operations while supporting impacted staff.

Pipedrive on 2023-11-30.

Loco, a Mumbai-based game streaming platform backed by Krafton, has laid off 40 employees, representing 36% of its 110-person workforce, as part of a restructuring plan announced by founders Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh. The move, aimed at ensuring long-term sustainability, focuses the company on transaction-based monetization and a leaner cost structure while it continues global expansion efforts. This layoff reflects broader challenges in the Indian startup ecosystem, even as Loco reports growth with 6 million monthly active users. The gaming and live-streaming industry in India is expanding, with significant investor backing, including a $42 million Series A round last year.

Vox Media representing approximately 4% of its workforce on 2023-11-30.

German micromobility company Tier Mobility laid off 22% of its workforce in November 2023 as part of a continued push to achieve profitability. This marked another round of job cuts for the scooter and e-bike startup, following previous layoffs in 2022. Facing a challenging funding environment and stalled acquisition talks, the company has shifted its strategy from growth to cost reduction. CEO Lawrence Leuschner stated that while Tier improved its financial performance and expects profitability in most of its key markets for 2023, further cost reductions were necessary due to uncertain market recovery. The layoffs are aimed at lowering the operational cost base to reach sustainable profitability.

Dataminr, a New York-based big data unicorn valued at $4.1 billion, is laying off approximately 150 employees, representing 20% of its staff, on November 28, 2023. The company, which specializes in using AI and big data to provide predictive insights on global events, cites the economic environment, operational efficiencies, and rapid advancements in its AI platform as reasons for the restructuring. CEO Ted Bailey indicated that these cuts will strengthen the company's financial footing, providing multiple years of cash runway and a path to profitability as it focuses on launching a new AI platform combining predictive and generative AI in Q1. The layoffs reflect a strategic shift to double down on AI development while navigating current market conditions.

Unity laid off 265 employees representing approximately 4% of its workforce on 2023-11-28.

In late November 2023, the UK-based edtech unicorn Multiverse announced layoffs affecting up to 44 employees in the United States, representing nearly a third of its 100-person US workforce. The company, which provides apprenticeship and upskilling programs globally, cited missed revenue targets and a strategy that hadn't evolved quickly enough in the US market as the primary reasons. This reduction follows a broader trend of gradual team reductions over the past year as the company shifts focus toward corporate upskilling. Despite these cuts, Multiverse retains a global team of approximately 850 employees. The layoffs come amid significant financial challenges, with the company reporting losses of £41 million for the fiscal year ending March 2023.

Our Next Energy laid off 128 employees representing approximately 25% of its workforce on 2023-11-27.

VMware, a leading cloud computing and virtualization technology company, has recently conducted a round of layoffs. While the exact number of employees affected has not been officially disclosed, the workforce reduction is part of a broader restructuring effort following its acquisition by Broadcom. The layoffs, which occurred in early 2024, are aimed at streamlining operations and eliminating redundancies as the companies integrate. VMware operates in the enterprise software industry and is a significant player at a large scale, with thousands of employees globally. This move reflects the typical consolidation challenges post-merger in the tech sector.

In November 2023, ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant and parent company of TikTok, laid off approximately 1,000 employees from its gaming division. This significant reduction, part of a major strategic shift, represents a downsizing of what was once a key growth area for the company. ByteDance had aggressively invested in gaming since 2016 but is now intensifying its focus and resources on generative artificial intelligence (AI). The layoffs reflect the competitive pressures in the gaming industry and the company's pivot toward prioritizing its AI initiatives.

Veev representing approximately 100% of its workforce on 2023-11-26.

Anar, a B2B networking platform for small and medium enterprises, has shut down operations after approximately 4.5 years, returning remaining capital to investors. Founded in 2020 and backed by firms like Elevation Capital and Accel India, the startup struggled with low user retention and failed to deliver sufficient value to sellers, particularly after difficult shifts in business models during 2023. At its closure, the platform listed over 1.5 million SMBs and 6.6 million products. Co-founder Nishank Jain cited the inability to solve enough problems for sellers as a key reason for the shutdown, while hinting at a future venture in the AI space.

Tulip Retail, a company in the retail technology industry, laid off 25 employees in a difficult restructuring move. This reduction, described as immensely painful by founder Ali Asaria, involved parting with some of the company's best and most senior staff. The layoffs were implemented to transition the company to a new phase of profitability, eliminating the need for outside capital to build and grow. While the exact total employee count and percentage affected are not specified, the company emphasized it is now a "big enough company" to operate sustainably. The affected employees are being supported with above-market severance packages, extended health benefits, and career transition resources. The layoffs occurred recently, as indicated by the post from "yesterday," marking a significant shift for the over-ten-year-old company that started as a small startup.

McMakler laid off 60 employees on 2023-11-21.

Nigerian B2B eCommerce startup Alerzo laid off 100 employees in November 2023, reportedly due to warehouse automation. This move follows previous workforce reductions, including a 15% cut of 400 employees seven months prior. With these layoffs, the company's total employee count is estimated to fall below 700. A company spokesperson cited investments in an end-to-end warehouse management system that improved automation and performance metrics, leading to the streamlining of certain warehouse roles. Most affected employees worked across the company's 40 warehouses, where new software reduced approval layers and made some positions redundant. The laid-off staff will receive one month's salary as severance and retain HMO benefits through the end of the year, as Alerzo continues its restructuring efforts aimed at achieving profitability.

Bengaluru-based fintech startup Jodo, which is backed by Tiger Global, Elevation Capital, and Matrix Partners, laid off approximately 100 employees last week in a significant cost-cutting move. The layoffs, conducted across departments including engineering, data, customer success, and sales, came after the company failed to meet its ambitious business targets for 2023. Jodo had aimed to increase the fees processed on its platform tenfold this year but is projected to achieve only a threefold rise. During a virtual town hall on November 17, founders cited lower-than-expected growth and the need to sustain operations as reasons for the restructuring. The startup, founded in 2020 and employing around 300 people prior to the cuts, offered a severance package of 45 days' pay and outplacement support to affected staff.

Presto representing approximately 17% of its workforce on 2023-11-20.

In November 2023, Indian edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah laid off between 120 to 150 employees, marking its first such workforce reduction. The company, which provides online and offline coaching for competitive exams like JEE and NEET, framed the move as a performance-based review affecting less than 0.8% of its total workforce, though sources cited a cost-cutting exercise impacting various departments. Despite the layoffs, PhysicsWallah announced plans to hire an additional 1,000 employees in the following six months. The company, founded in 2016 and valued at over $1 billion, had seen rapid revenue growth, reporting Rs 780 crore in FY23.

Buildertrend representing approximately 16% of its workforce on 2023-11-17.

NextGen Healthcare laid off 84 employees on 2023-11-17.

Jane.com, a Utah-based online marketplace focused on women-owned businesses, abruptly shut down in mid-November 2023, laying off its entire workforce. The company, which had around 200 employees, ceased operations without prior notice, leaving vendors owed significant sums. The shutdown followed financial struggles, with the site going dark and displaying a "down for maintenance" message while employees confirmed the closure on social media. Operating in the e-commerce industry, Jane.com was a mid-sized platform that aimed to empower women entrepreneurs before its sudden collapse.

Zazuu, a U.K.-based fintech startup focused on African cross-border payments, has shut down in November 2023 after failing to secure additional growth funding. The closure resulted in the layoff of its entire team, though the exact number of employees affected was not disclosed. Founded in 2018, the company had evolved from a simple rate-comparison chatbot to an FCA-licensed service with nearly 100,000 users across eight countries. Despite raising $2 million in 2022 to expand its platform and hire talent, Zazuu was unable to sustain operations without further investment, ultimately leading to its dissolution in the competitive fintech industry.

Amazon on 2023-11-17.

Sierra Space, a prominent private aerospace company valued at over $5 billion, laid off approximately 165 employees this week, along with a significant number of contractors, totaling several hundred personnel. This reduction affected about 8% of its workforce, which stood at around 2,000 employees prior to the cuts. The layoffs follow a recent surge in hiring to complete the Dream Chaser Tenacity spaceplane, which has now been shipped for pre-launch testing. The company is realigning its focus toward the operational phase of Dream Chaser's first mission and expanding its classified national security work, including adding nearly 150 cleared employees from Sierra Nevada Corp. The affected employees received severance packages including paid notice and benefits through the year-end.

London-based HR tech startup Beamery is reducing its workforce by 25 percent as part of a broader organizational restructuring aimed at cutting total costs by 35 percent. Based on LinkedIn data showing 421 employees, this layoff will affect approximately 105 people. The move, reported in November 2023, reflects ongoing challenges in the tech sector as companies streamline operations to improve financial sustainability. Beamery, which provides talent acquisition and management software, joins other startups adjusting their strategies amid economic pressures.

Sonos on 2023-11-16.

In November 2023, African fintech company Paystack laid off 33 employees as part of a strategic decision to reduce its operations outside of Africa. The layoffs affected staff in Europe and Dubai, where the company had previously expanded to support technical roles for its core African markets. Following its acquisition by Stripe, Paystack had grown its geographical presence, but this move represents a streamlining effort to refocus on its primary operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. The company, known for its lean structure, continues to develop products and expand within the continent while scaling back its international support teams.

Toronto-based FinTech firm FreshBooks has laid off approximately 39 employees, representing six percent of its 642-person workforce, as part of a restructuring effort. This marks the company's third round of layoffs in the past year, following a 10 percent reduction eight months prior. Concurrently, FreshBooks is closing its operations in Raleigh, North Carolina, and has seen significant leadership changes, with its president and CEO stepping down and interim co-CEOs appointed. Founder Mike McDerment cited economic challenges, referring to "winter in startup land," while sources indicate the company is shifting focus from international expansion back to the North American market to cut costs and pursue profitability by 2025. The accounting software provider, which serves small and medium-sized businesses, continues to operate as a late-stage startup navigating a difficult financial climate.

Uleet representing approximately 100% of its workforce on 2023-11-15.

Singular Genomics representing approximately 10% of its workforce on 2023-11-15.

Landing on 2023-11-15.

FintechOS, a Romanian-founded fintech startup, has conducted layoffs as part of a restructuring effort aimed at achieving profitability. While the company's co-founder and CSO, Sergiu Neguț, confirmed the workforce reductions in a November 2023 announcement, he did not specify the exact number of employees affected. However, public reports suggest the company, which had around 550 employees two years ago, may now have fewer than 200 staff following multiple rounds of cuts. The layoffs reflect broader market pressures for mature startups to streamline operations and focus on sustainable growth.

Sarcos laid off 150 employees on 2023-11-14.

In November 2023, online pet goods retailer Chewy laid off over 200 employees, with sources indicating the figure was around 220. The layoffs affected multiple locations, including its headquarters in Plantation, Florida, and spanned roles in HR, recruiting, data and business intelligence, engineering, product management, and supply chain, including some directors and a vice president. The company, which had reported a surprise profit but faced concerns over declining active users, stated the move was to consolidate headcount and align efforts with strategic priorities for future growth. Chewy provided severance packages starting at one month, with additional weeks based on tenure.

Markforged on 2023-11-14.

Cake Group, a blockchain technology company, has laid off approximately 50 employees as part of a restructuring effort to achieve financial sustainability. This reduction brings the total team size down to around 120 members, representing a significant cut of nearly 30% of its workforce. The decision, announced by CEO Dr. Julian Hosp, aims to return the company to a break-even financial position without discontinuing any core business verticals. The focus remains on enhancing services like the Bake platform, advancing blockchain research through Birthday Research, and supporting DeFiChainLabs' independence. This move reflects broader challenges within the blockchain and tech industries, where companies are adjusting to market conditions to ensure long-term viability.

Halodoc, an Indonesian healthtech company, laid off an unspecified number of employees in late 2024 as part of a strategic restructuring to optimize operations and enhance efficiency. The decision, affecting a portion of its workforce, was driven by the need to streamline costs and focus on sustainable growth amid evolving market conditions. As a major player in Southeast Asia's digital healthcare industry, Halodoc continues to provide telemedicine and health services, with the layoffs reflecting broader adjustments within the tech sector to maintain long-term viability.

Ping Identity on 2023-11-14.

Amazon is laying off over 180 employees in its Amazon Games division as part of a restructuring effort, shifting focus away from streaming and third-party game support to concentrate on developing its own major titles. The cuts, announced in late 2023, affect the Game Growth and Crown Channel initiatives. This move reflects a broader cost-cutting strategy under CEO Andy Jassy, following the largest layoffs in Amazon's history totaling 27,000 jobs since the previous year. The tech giant, a leader in e-commerce and cloud computing, is streamlining its gaming unit to prioritize upcoming releases like "Throne and Liberty" and future projects based on franchises such as "Tomb Raider" and "The Lord of the Rings."

TripAdvisor, a major online travel platform, laid off approximately 125 employees in the third quarter of 2023, representing about 4% of its workforce, which stood at nearly 3,000 employees. The company indicated that further job reductions would occur before the year's end, with some delays in certain European countries due to required consultation processes. The restructuring primarily impacted the Tripadvisor Core segment, while its Viator brand was less affected, reflecting a strategic shift in the company's priorities within the competitive travel industry.

Bowery Farming on 2023-11-10.