Spotify plans to lay off about 1,500 employees to cut costs, CNBC reports. This is the latest layoff by the music streaming company, which laid off 600 employees in January and another 200 in June.
In an email sent to employees, CEO Daniel Eck said Spotify is taking “significant action to optimize its costs,” adding that the company hired too many employees in 2020 and 2021, when capital was cheap and tech companies had the ability to invest significant sums in team expansion.
“Over the last two years, we’ve put significant emphasis on building Spotify into a truly great and sustainable business – one designed to achieve our goal of being the world’s leading audio company and one that will consistently drive profitability and growth into the future,” Ek said in an internal memo that was shared on Spotify’s website.
“While we’ve made worthy strides, as I’ve shared many times, we still have work to do. Economic growth has slowed dramatically and capital has become more expensive. Spotify is not an exception to these realities”, he continued.
After reporting a third-quarter profit of 65 million euros ($70.7 million), Spotify attributed its financial success to reduced spending on marketing and personnel. Earlier this year, the company increased subscription plan prices and diversified its offerings by venturing into podcasts and audiobooks.
The recent wave of job cuts marks another step in Spotify’s ongoing efforts to streamline its operations. Like many other tech firms focused on growth, Spotify has been compelled to trim costs over the past year due to higher interest rates and a challenging macroeconomic environment.
The company initially reduced its workforce by 6%, affecting approximately 600 employees at the beginning of the year. Subsequently, in June, Spotify implemented a further round of layoffs, affecting 2% of its staff, or around 200 roles.