Spotify seen cutting staff as early as this week to reduce costs

Small figurines are seen in front of displayed Spotify logo in this illustration taken February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Ilustration

STOCKHOLM: Spotify Technology SA is planning layoffs as soon as this week in an effort to curtail costs, according to people familiar with the plans.

The number of job cuts wasn’t specified. Spotify laid off 38 people from its Gimlet Media and Parcast podcast studios in October, as well as podcast editorial employees in September. The music streaming giant has about 9,800 employees, according to its third quarter earnings report.

Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Google parent Alphabet Inc and Microsoft Corp also recently announced staff reductions. Tech companies added to their headcount during the pandemic but were forced to make reductions in response to a shaky economic outlook.

A Spotify spokesperson declined to comment on the upcoming cuts.

The company made a massive commitment to podcasting beginning in 2019. It spent over US$1bil (RM4.29bil) on acquiring podcast networks, creation software, a hosting service and the rights to popular shows like The Joe Rogan Experience and Armchair Expert.

Still, the investments have tested investors’ patience. Shares tumbled 66% last year as investors questioned when they’d begin seeing returns. Spotify said in June that its podcast business would become profitable in the next one to two years. — Bloomberg