According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Spotify is planning layoffs as soon as this week as it moves forward with plans to cut operational expenses.
Staff members working on canceled shows from Gimlet and Parcast, in-house podcast studios, were impacted by the October round of layoffs, which are expected to be more extensive.
Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek told employees in June that the company would cut its hiring growth by 25% and “be a bit more prudent with the absolute level of new hires over the next few quarters” in order to reduce headcount-related expenses. At Spotify’s June investor day, chief financial officer Paul Vogel also mentioned “increasing uncertainty regarding the global economy” as a reason for “evaluating [Spotify’s] headcount growth in the near term.”
Other tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta have each announced significant rounds of layoffs in recent months that will affect thousands of employees. The exact number of layoffs, which Bloomberg first reported, is not yet clear. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, made the most recent layoff announcement, a reduction of 6%, or about 12,000 employees, in its workforce.
Around 9,800 people were employed by Spotify at the end of the third quarter. During the third quarter, the audio company added 195 million paid subscribers and earned €3.04 billion in revenue. Ek stated at the time that Spotify’s business had not been affected “materially” by the economic downturn, but that the company would be “more selective” with its “overall spending.”
On January 31, Spotify will announce its fourth-quarter earnings before the market opens.
