The Facts
Music streaming platform Spotify announced Monday the company will be laying off 6% of its global workforce, which is about 600 employees.
Spotify has a total workforce of around 9.8K people, employing 5.4K people in the US and 1.9K in Sweden.
The Spin
Narrative A
For far too long, Spotify focused on unsustainable growth rather than turning a profit. Investors pressured the platform to focus on ad sales and revenue, but its management refused. Now, this poor business decision is coming back to haunt the company and forcing it to restructure after promising not to let people go.
Narrative B
Spotify isn’t alone in feeling the pain of a dip in consumer spending because of inflation, and funding drying up because of higher interest rates. In the larger picture, Spotify and other tech companies are laying off a small percentage of their staff. This mini reset will help them thrive moving forward.
