Spotify Technology SA is planning layoffs as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the plans, joining a slew of technology companies from Amazon.com Inc. to Meta Platforms Inc. in announcing job cuts to lower costs.38 staff from its Gimlet Media and Parcast podcast studios in October. The music streaming giant has about 9,800 employees, according to its third-quarter earnings report.
Tech companies added to their headcounts during the pandemic but were forced to make reductions in response to reduced advertising revenue and a shaky economic outlook. Amazon.com, Meta and Microsoft Corp. were among the biggest companies to announce staff reductions recently, while Google parent Alphabet Inc. said Friday it will cut about 12,000 jobs, more than 6% of its global workforce.The company made a massive commitment to podcasting beginning in 2019.
It spent over a billion dollars on acquiring podcast networks, creation software, a hosting service and the rights to popular shows like The Joe Rogan Experience and Armchair Expert.Shares tumbled 66% last year as investors questioned when they’d begin seeing returns.in June its podcast business would become profitable in the next one to two years.