Discord is cutting 17% of employees in latest tech layoffs
Discord, the social chat and messaging startup loved by gamers, told employees Thursday that it would cut 17 percent of its workforce, adding to the string of recent job cuts by tech companies.
About 170 jobs will be affected by the layoffs, according to an internal memo from Jason Citron, Discord’s founder and CEO, seen by The New York Times.
“We must face some hard truths,” Mr. Citron wrote. “It is becoming increasingly clear that we need to sharpen our focus and improve the way we work together to achieve more agility for our organization.”
Discord confirmed the cuts. That was the layoffs reported previously by The Verge.
This year’s tech industry cuts already include cuts from giants like Google, Amazon and Meta. Gaming companies in particular have trimmed their ranks; Twitch, an Amazon streaming service that many gamers use, and Unity Software, a video game software provider, have reduced their workforces in the past week.
On Wednesday, Google also laid off hundreds of employees in its core engineering division, as well as those working on the Google Assistant, a voice-activated virtual assistant, and in its hardware division. Amazon also laid off hundreds of employees on Wednesday, not only at its streaming service Twitch, but also at its Prime Video service and MGM Studios. Xerox said this month it would cut 15 percent of its 23,000-person workforce.
The cuts signal what could be another tough year for the tech industry after tens of thousands of workers were laid off last year due to challenging economic conditions and a downturn in the digital advertising market.
In his note, Mr. Citron said the layoffs were the result of over-recruiting and growing too quickly, with Discord expanding five times its original size since 2020. As a result, he said, Discord had taken on too many projects and worked less efficiently. on them.
His reasoning echoed similar past statements from tech executives such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify’s Daniel Ek, both of whom have made layoffs in the past two years.