We're not even two weeks into 2024 and the tech and gaming layoffs are already reaching catastrophic numbers. Now Discord is adding to the count by cutting 17% of its staff.
The news was announced to Discord employees in an internal memo from CEO Jason Citron, which was obtained and published by The Verge. In that memo, Citron noted that Discord's workforce had grown "by 5x since 2020," making the company "less efficient." Citron said "we are increasingly clear on the need to sharpen our focus and improve the way we work together to bring more agility to our organization. This is what largely drove the decision to reduce the size of our workforce."
170 people will be laid off. Departing employees will receive five months of salary, plus an additional week for every year they worked at the company, as well as five months of continued benefits.
Discord joins some other gaming giants in big layoffs to start the year. A few days ago, game engine provider Unity told employees that it was cutting 25% of its staff, representing 1,800 workers. Even more recently, streaming platform Twitch confirmed that it was laying off over 500 people - about a third of its workforce. Outside of gaming, it was revealed earlier today that Google is cutting hundreds of jobs, too.
In terms of the quality of major new releases, 2023 was one of the greatest years in gaming history - but the human toll of all that will sober your enthusiasm real fast. Various estimates suggest that somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 game industry workers were laid off in 2023, and just 11 days in, 2024 is catching up fast.
GTA 6 publisher Take-Two blamed last year's layoffs on "the enthusiasm of the pandemic."
