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Spotify announced Monday the layoff of 200 employees, affecting its podcast division in a significant strategic realignment. This accounts for two percent of the global workforce, part of a bid to enhance partnerships with leading podcasters and optimize creator support.
On Monday, June 5, the company announced it would be laying off employees, and about 200 people were affected. Spotify revealed that these latest job cuts are centered on its podcast business unit, and the number represents two percent of its total workforce worldwide.
As per Reuters, the Swedish firm turned to aggressive expansion efforts to augment its earnings from music streaming. It has developed its other revenue-generating units, such as podcasts, by investing more than $1 billion in them. For instance, Spotify added Joe Rogan and other popular personalities to its roster of audio programs.
“We are expanding our partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator,” the company’s vice president and head of the podcast unit, Sahar Elhabashi, said in a statement announcing the changes to Spotify’s podcast business. “This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better.”
She added, “As a result, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people. Unfortunately, this means saying goodbye to close colleagues and friends.”
AFP via Yahoo News reported that Spotify, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said in April that it has gained more than 500 million monthly active users, and 210 million of them are paying subscribers. It also shared that in recent years, it has already invested over €1 billion in podcasting; however, business analysts said Spotify has yet to show the fruit of the investment.
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