Streaming the Blues: Spotify to Cut 6% of Workforce

Music streaming giant Spotify recently announced plans to lay off six percent of its workforce. The cuts will impact almost 600 workers as many other internet power players make significant staff cuts as well.

The Daily mail reports that the world’s largest music streaming service, Spotify, has revealed plans to lay off six percent of its workforce, or about 588 out of its 9,800 full-time workers. The company expects to pay about $38 million in severance-related costs as a result of the planned cuts. The company cited a decline in demand as the cause of the layoffs.

This action follows similar declarations from other well-known tech companies, including Google, which plans to cut 12,000 jobs, and Microsoft, which will eliminate 10,000 jobs. More than 18,000 roles will be impacted by Amazon’s most recent round of layoffs.

Industry experts have dubbed these job losses in the tech sector the “richcession,” as they primarily impact high-paid tech jobs. The phrase describes the emerging pattern of tech companies experiencing a decline in demand following two years of pandemic-driven growth during which they aggressively hired.

Despite the job cuts impacting well-paid white-collar professionals, they don’t seem to be impacting those in executive roles. Breitbart News recently reported that Microsoft hosted a Sting concert for executives just one day before announcing massive staff cuts.

The Wall Street Journal reports that on Tuesday evening, Microsoft played host to an event attended by its highest-ranking executives featuring a performance by Sting. On the other hand, the company announced the following day that they intend to lay off 10,000 people, which will be the largest round of layoffs since 2014. According to a blog post written by the company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, this move reflects the necessity for the company to adapt to a slowdown in the global economy.

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Many Microsoft employees felt that this announcement’s timing was inappropriate, particularly given that the topic of discussion at the event was sustainability. When thousands of employees were being let go, some people believed that it was not the appropriate time for a company to sponsor a concert.

Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, has disclosed that Dawn Ostroff, the company’s chief content and advertising business officer, will also leave due to the layoffs.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan