• by Colin Kirkland , November 9, 2023

Part of an ongoing company-wide reorganization strategy, Snap has laid off about 20 product managers. According to a spokesperson, the decision was intended to help reduce overhead and streamline the company’s decision-making processes.

The layoffs, originally reported by The Information, follow Snap’s shedding of 20% of its workforce in August 2022, which stemmed from a plummeting stock value and aggressive hiring during the pandemic, ultimately resulting in the loss of 1,300 employees.

Over the past year, Snap has regained traction, surpassing expectations in Q3 by increasing its revenue 5% year-over-year to $1.19 billion. 

The company’s ad business, however, is still recovering. Snap says its sales have been impacted by a pause in spending from a large portion of brand-oriented advertising campaigns following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East. 

Snap’s Chief Financial Officer Susan Li told analysts that the company “observed softer ads in the beginning of the fourth quarter, correlating with the start of the conflict” and is not providing official fourth-quarter guidance due to the unpredictable nature of war.

This most recent round of layoffs isn’t linked to any specific product, and no emerging features or offerings are to be discontinued as a result. Those being let go employees who hold mid-level positions. 

Outside of product development, Snap has made a number of advertising hires in recent quarters, including Eric Young, former Google vice president of engineering, as its senior vice president of engineering; Patrick Harris, former Meta vice president of global agency sales, as President of Americas; Ronan Harris, former Google head of UK, as President of EMEA; and Ajit Mohan, former Meta head of India, as President of APAC.  

The company says it now has around 5,000 employees.