Patreon is laying off about 80 employees, comprising 17% of the subscription platform’s staff. The news first came in an Instagram post from Jack Conte, the creator loyalty company’s CEO and in a blogpost on the company’s site, on Tuesday.
The new layoffs follow a smaller round of cuts last week, in which Patreon let go of five security team employees. Now, the two primary teams being consolidated in the U.S. are the marketing and creator partnership sectors, according to the blogpost. In the post Conte also noted that he is reducing the number of staff across Patreon’s operations, recruiting, and other internal support teams.
Outside of the U.S., the company is shuttering its Dublin and Berlin offices, while continuing operations in Porto, Portugal.
In the recent wave of tech layoffs, it’s been rare (if not unheard of) that the public announcement would come directly from company leadership. “This was ultimately my decision, so I wanted you all to hear directly from me about the reasoning,” Conte wrote in the Instagram post.
He also attempted to assure Patreon users that the layoffs will not impact the platform’s services or function. “For those of you who rely on Patreon for your businesses and communities: I want to assure you that the company is making this move… so we can continue to be a rock for your businesses.”
Laid off employees will receive a minimum of three months severance in both the U.S. and abroad. They will further receive continued health care coverage through the end of the year via COBRA or other, relevant European programs. Patreon is also offering cut workers three months of “mental health benefits,” financial counseling, vested equity, and job finding services, according to the company blogpost.
Patreon began 2022 with ambitious plans to expand its staff. It started off the year with about 400 employees and was hoping to double that number by December 2022. But clearly, the expansion didn’t pan out as planned. “As the world has recovered from COVID lockdowns and entered a broader economic slowdown, it has become clear that the original plan we built for the year, to support outsized growth through the pandemic, is no longer the right plan for the company,” Conte wrote on Instagram.
Patreon is just the latest in a string of large tech employers to downsize over the past few months. Apple, TikTok, Twitter, and Cameo are just a few of the other corporations to have made sizable cuts this year, amid ongoing economic uncertainty.