Two people familiar with Snap’s plans say that Snap is still planning layoffs.
The planned cuts come after the company recently delivered disappointing earnings results and didn’t forecast earnings for the third quarter — news that sent its stock price cratering to near-all-time lows. It’s currently unclear how many of Snap’s more than 6,000 employees will be laid off, as managers across the company are still planning the full scope of the cuts for their teams.
Russ Caditz -Peck, Snap’s spokesperson, declined to comment.
Snap’s business has been hurt recently on two major fronts: The first is Apple’s introduction of the “Ask App Not to Track” prompt, which an estimated majority of iPhone owners have opted “Yes” to, making it harder for companies like Snap to as effectively target their ads. Snap’s stock prices and other cash-burning businesses have been particularly affected by the wider economic downturn. Snap has only been profitable in one quarter since it was listed in 2017.
Snap laid off its last employees in 2018, while it was still recovering from a badly executed Snapchat redesign. Snap’s user base has grown to 347 millions daily users, surpassing Twitter.
The company has not been able to establish a significant ads business. And its attempts at selling hardware, like a $230 selfie drone, haven’t gone anywhere. In late May, CEO Evan Spiegel told employees that the company would sharply pullback on hiring and “find additional cost savings.”
Snap’s isn’t alone in needing to make cuts: Twitter, TikTok, and a host of other tech firms have either announced layoffs or paused hiring in recent months. Even Snap’s much larger and profitable competitor in social media, Meta, has slowed hiring and warned employees about tough times ahead.
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