Spotify to cut 6% of employees

Spotify plans to cut 6% of its workforce and incur costs of about $50 million, reports Reuters.

The tech industry is facing a slump in demand after two years of pandemic-fueled growth during which it has been busy hiring. This has resulted in companies losing thousands of jobs.

“Over the last few months we’ve made a considerable effort to rein in costs, but it simply hasn’t been enough,” Chief Executive Daniel Ek said in a blog post announcing the roughly 600 job cuts. “I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth.”

Spotify’s operating expenses grew at twice the rate of revenue last year as the company aggressively poured money into the business podcasts, which is more attractive to advertisers due to a higher level of engagement.

At the same time, the business has cut advertising spending on the platform, mirroring a trend seen at Meta and Google parent Alphabet, as soaring interest rates and the fallout from russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine weighed on the economy.

The company, whose shares rose 5.8% to $103.55, is currently restructuring as it tries to cut costs and adjust to a worsening economic situation.