Snapchat maker Snap says it is ‘restructuring its business’ and sacking 20% of staff

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Snapchat maker Snap is “restructuring its business” and sacking 20 per cent of its staff, it has said.

The broad changes will also involve shutting several projects, and the departure of senior executives, the company said.

Snap has been in trouble in recent months, in part owing to a decline in the market for global advertising. After quick and vast growth, its stock price has declined by 80 per cent since the beginning of the year, and reported disappointing results.

That will lead to some 20 per cent of staff leaving the company, it said. It currently has 6,400 employees, many of which joined the company during the boom of the pandemic.

In recent months, however, that pandemic growth has rapidly slowed. The company has faced problems including headwinds as a result of a recent Apple update that made it harder for apps to track users, and which also caused issues for other companies such as Facebook-owner Meta.

Now Snap chief executive Evan Spiegel says it is taking significant measures to respond to those problems, admitting that they are likely to be “difficult”.

“Today we are restructuring our business to increase focus on our three strategic priorities: community growth, revenue growth, and augmented reality,” he said.

“As a result, we are sunsetting several projects, reducing the size of our team by approximately 20 percent, and announcing the promotion of Jerry Hunter to Chief Operating Officer.

“Changes of this magnitude are always difficult, and we are focused on supporting our departing team members through this transition. We are deeply grateful for their many contributions to Snap.”