Discord grew significantly during the pandemic and will now lay off 170 employees

Gradually, Discord became one of the most popular messaging applications for PC and mobile devices, thanks to the versatility offered by its features. Unfortunately, the company is set to lay off a significant portion of its workforce.

This week, Jason Citron, CEO of Discord, confirmed that they would be laying off almost 200 employees. This measure aims to provide more agility and refine the organization's focus. The news was shared in a general meeting and an internal memo.

Layoffs impact Discord

According to a report by The Verge, the company behind the instant messaging service has not yet become profitable but is far from being in a desperate financial situation. It is said to have raised $1 billion in funding and has over $700 million in cash on its balance sheet.

In the statement, Jason Citron confirmed that the team made the difficult decision to reduce 17% of the workforce, meaning 170 people will lose their jobs. He hopes that this measure will make the business solid and profitable in the future, explaining that the organization grew too quickly since the pandemic.

"Our company has changed and grown significantly in recent years. (...) At the same time, we have to face some hard truths. We grew quickly and expanded our workforce even faster, multiplying by 5 since 2020. As a result, we took on more projects and became less efficient in our way of operating," reads the message.

Jason Citron explained that workers will receive an email informing them if their position was affected by the recent wave of layoffs. He acknowledges that this is a challenging situation, so he will offer 5 months of salary and other benefits to the employees who lost their jobs to help them transition.

"It is incredibly difficult to say goodbye to respected colleagues, many of whom have become friends. I hope that working on and with our product has strengthened these bonds and can endure, even strengthen, beyond the walls of any place," concluded the CEO of Discord.

This news comes shortly after Twitch laid off over 500 employees to prioritize content creator payments. Also, let's not forget that over 9,000 creatives and developers in the video game industry lost their jobs in 2023.