Spotify, a leading music streaming platform, announced it would be slashing jobs to 200 employees or 2% of its workforce, from its podcast division.
Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify’s head of the podcast division, announced the company is expanding partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator.
“Our senior leadership team has worked closely with HR to determine the optimal organisation for this next chapter,” Sahar Elhabashi said.
Those impacted in layoffs received emails from HR. The company said it will support these individuals with generous severance packages, including extended healthcare coverage and immediate access to outplacement support.
The company will combine Parcast and Gimlet into a renewed Spotify Studios operation that will continue to produce a wide range of original shows.
Julie McNamara, VP, Head of Global Podcast Studios, will continue to oversee the Spotify Studios organisation, with Liliana Kim in charge of Current Content for Spotify Studios alongside Liz Gateley, who will be Head of Development.
In January this year, Spotify slashed 6% of its workforce, or about 600 staffers, globally.
The Swedish music streaming platform crossed 515 million monthly active users (MAUs) in Q1 2023, a 22 per cent (year-on-year) increase from 489 MAUs in the last quarter — its strongest first quarter since going public in 2018.
