Snap to layoff 10% of workforce

Snap Inc., the owner of Snapchat, is laying off about 530 employees, meaning about 10% of its worldwide workforce. Snap is the latest in a series of tech companies ranging from Google to Microsoft to announce layoffs. According to a filing, Snap Inc. currently estimates $55 million to $75 million in charges, mostly for severance and related costs. It expects the majority of the costs to be incurred in the first quarter.

This isn’t the first time Santa Monica, Calif.-based Snap has eliminated job; in August 2022, Snap announced plans to about 20% of its global workforce and the cancellation of its Pixy selfie drone. In the third quarter of 2023, it began winding down its AR Enterprise business, after only about 6 months,, according to a regulatory filing.

The Snapchat app continues to be popular, with more than 400 million daily users, according to Snap’s website, and more than 7 million Snapchat+ subscribers. But efforts by Snap Inc. to expand beyond the app, including the widely publicized failure of Spectacles, have not borne fruit.