Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch is preparing to lay off 35% of its workforce, or about 500 employees, according to Engadget . The move comes after the company already cut about 400 employees by 2023 and shut down its operations in South Korea.
Twitch is laying off 35% of its workforce
An official announcement is expected soon, but specific details about the affected locations have not been disclosed. According to insiders, the decision comes amid concerns about Twitch's losses, which have yet to turn a profit nine years after being acquired by Amazon for nearly $1 billion. The massive operating costs of supporting 1.8 billion hours of livestreaming each month have been a major factor in Twitch's struggles. Similar issues forced Twitch to exit the South Korean market, where CEO Dan Clancy said costs were "10 times higher" than in other countries.
Late last year, several key executives left the company, including its chief product officer, chief customer officer, chief content officer, and more. Clancy himself has been CEO for less than a year, replacing co-founder and CEO Emmett Shear in March 2023.
In recent years, Twitch has made several changes to how it promotes and pays streamers in an effort to improve its bottom line. The platform had more than 50,000 partner creators by 2022, many of whom appreciate Clancy’s hands-on, listening style of leadership.
Amazon, Twitch's parent company, is also taking cost-cutting measures, laying off 27,000 employees in the past two years, including more than 9,000 by 2023. It's part of a major wave of layoffs across the tech industry, with major companies like Google, Meta, Spotify, Epic Games, and Unity also cutting staff in the past year.
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