Angela B. Tech 01.10.2024 19:Jan PM EST

Twitch is Laying Off Over 500 Employees, CEO Confirms

Tech layoffs may be winding down, but they have not stopped completely. 2023 has been brutal for employees in the tech industry, but 2024 may not be a safe year just yet. Twitch, for instance, is conducting job cuts which will affect more than 500 workers.

Twitch Layoffs, Confirmed

The news first emerged two days ago, but it wasn't until now that Twitch CEO Dan Clancy confirmed the news. Just like most layoffs in the past couple of months, the company's reason behind the reduction is also to cut costs.

Clancy stated that over the last year, the company has been "working to build a more sustainable business so that Twitch will be here for the long run," and that involves cutting costs along with many other decisions to be more efficient.

Despite all the initial efforts, Twitch is "meaningfully larger" than it should be. The CEO will be hosting a stream on Twitch on January 11 at 1 PM PT to address the employees about the upcoming workforce reduction, says the company CEO.

As per Twitch's blog post, employees will be receiving an email to confirm whether or not they will be laid off. Employees from the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and Singapore will receive an email from Clancy himself, including how they will be supported throughout the transition.

For the employees from countries that were unmentioned above, they will be receiving an email from a different manager from the company to discuss the specifics of the layoff process. All affected employees will be informed about their severance packages as well.

Given that the information was leaked before it was officially announced, Clancy expressed his apologies to those who were affected by the job cuts "for all of the anxiety that it caused over the last several hours."

Amazon Prime Video, MGM Studios Also Affected

Twitch is not the only Amazon-owned company that is suffering layoffs. It appears that Amazon Prime Video as well as MGM Studios will also be bidding farewell to a few employees of its own. There is no specific number except for the estimated "several hundred."

The Senior Vice President of the Division, Mike Hopkins, said that the reason behind the job cuts was also to cut costs, specifically reducing or discontinuing investments in certain areas while increasing their focus on content and product initiatives, as per Tech Crunch.

Amazon has already informed some of the employees in the US, while workers from other regions will have to wait for the official notification by the end of the week. Separation fees, benefits, and transition support will also be discussed with the impacted workers.

This marks the first workforce for Amazon in 2024. The last set of layoffs before this was back in November 2023, which affected hundreds of employees from the Alexa division. More than 180 workers in the gaming sector were also let go.

Unfortunately, this is likely not the last reduction that Amazon will implement for 2024 if we base it on the retail giant's track record in 2023. Hopkins expressed that the recent layoffs are to make sure that the business has an "even stronger future."