Snap to lay off 1,000 employees, close 300 open roles

MANILA, Philippines – Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel announced on Wednesday, April 15, that the company would be laying off “approximately 1,000 team members at Snap, including 16% of our full time employees,” as well as closing 300 open roles.

Spiegel said in a post it is investing in artificial intelligence to streamline its operations so it can work with leaner teams. 

He said, “We believe that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers.”

Spiegel added, “We have already witnessed small squads leveraging AI tools to drive meaningful progress across several important initiatives, including Snapchat+, enhanced ad platform performance, and efficiency improvements in our Snap Lite infrastructure.”

According to a Reuters report, the move comes after Irenic Capital Management pushed Snapchat’s parent company to optimize its portfolio and improve performance. Irenic has an economic interest of about 2.5% in Snap.

Snap is scheduled to report its quarterly results on May 6. – Rappler.com