With all the great new music that was released in 2023, it was a great year to be a Spotify subscriber. 2023 was less awesome, though, for a noteworthy amount of now-former Spotify employees: Throughout the year, the company has had a number of significant layoffs.
In January, they cut 6 percent of their global workforce, which amounted to about 600 people. Then, in June, Spotify cut about 200 jobs from its podcast division. Now, more layoffs have arrived and it’s the biggest round of the year so far. Today (December 4), Spotify announced they’re cutting a whopping 17 percent of its employees. As The Verge notes, “Based on its total headcount of 9,241 revealed during its last earnings release, the cuts are expected to impact over 1,500 people.” So, across all three rounds, that’s about 2,300 people this year.
In a message shared to employees (and here), Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote in part:
“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. 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.
This brings me to a decision that will mean a significant step change for our company. To align Spotify with our future goals and ensure we are right-sized for the challenges ahead, I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17% across the company. I recognize this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions. To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us.”
Read the full message here.