Audio streaming giant Spotify is set to join the massive wave of tech layoffs in 2023, with the company on course to lay off staff as early as this week.
The number of job cuts under consideration at the popular streaming service is not clear, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing unnamed people who are familiar with the matter.
The layoffs are said to be among the company’s plans to reduce operational expenses.
In October, Spotify, which has about 9,800 employees, let go of 38 employees from its podcast studios Gimlet Media and Parcast.
Spotify executives have previously signaled plans to reduce headcount-related expenses, with CEO Daniel Ek telling staff last June that the company would reduce its hiring growth by 25 percent and “be a bit more prudent with the absolute level of new hires over the next few quarters.”
Paul Vogel, the company’s chief financial officer, also pointed to “increasing uncertainty regarding the global economy” at Spotify’s investor day in June as a reason for “evaluating [Spotify’s] headcount growth in the near term.”
Tech firms have cut thousands of jobs in the last year as slowing advertising revenues and recession fears prompt reassessments of headcounts that ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In recent weeks, Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon have let go of a combined 40,000 employees, after Meta and Twitter cut more than 18,000 staff combined late last year.
