Twitch cuts staff from marketing and content teams
Video streaming site Twitch has laid off a reported 25 members of staff as it looks to make “adjustments” to content and marketing teams that have been in place since the company's founding.
Twitch staff let go
A spokesperson from the Amazon-owned company said: “While we’ve conducted team adjustments in some departments, our focus is on prioritizing areas most important for the community.”
The company currently employs around 1,500 members of staff, so the 25 members is a small slice personnel. Furthermore, looking to dissuade worries to around its financial health, Twitch said it was looking to increase its headcount by around 30%, which Variety reveals could be as many as 450 new employees.
ESports consultant Rod Breslau quoted sources saying the company had over-hired.
Twitch laid off more than 25 people from the Twitch Studios and Community/Marketing teams yesterday, including several high-profile employees who have been with the company since Twitch began, sources said. People were told that Twitch had 'overhired', and this was to re-adjust.
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) March 30, 2018
He also cited one employee who claimed that he or she was "Amazon'd".
Some Twitch employees were fired by new Twitch VP of Content Michael Aragon who wasn't even in the office and did this via a remote Google Hangouts call. Employees were told to leave immediately. Morale is at an all-time low at Twitch, with one saying "We got amazon'd. Sad day."
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) March 30, 2018
Polygon broke the news, underlining that some of the staff let go were in senior positions.