Spotify is laying off 17% of staff: “One out of every six will be losing their job”

The biggest layoffs in the platform’s 15-year history come just weeks after it posted a surprise profit for the third quarter.

Transcript

00:00 Spotify is laying off 17% of its staff,

00:02 marking the biggest layoff in the platform's 15 year history.

00:05 Employees woke up to the news that one out of every six

00:08 will be losing their job.

00:09 And this news comes just weeks after the company

00:12 posted a surprise profit for the third quarter.

00:14 Founder and CEO, Daniel X, said the company

00:16 had become too bloated with about 9,000 employees.

00:19 In a memo to staff, he wrote that there are too many people

00:21 dedicated to supporting work

00:23 and even doing work around the work.

00:25 He said that his team debated spreading the layoffs out

00:27 over the next two years,

00:28 but ultimately chose to swallow the pill all at once,

00:30 pitching it as a strategic reorientation.

00:33 Spotify still remains the global leader in audio streaming

00:36 with 574 million monthly active users,

00:39 but still faces increased competition

00:41 from giants like Apple, Amazon, and YouTube.

00:43 In an effort to grow its podcasting segment,

00:45 Spotify splashed out around $1 billion

00:48 in exclusive deals with celebrities like Joe Rogan,

00:50 Barack Obama, and Kim Kardashian,

00:52 but many failed to pay off.

00:54 And while revenue did grow, the CEO said the rewards

00:56 only proportional to the amount invested.