Twilio has announced that it is set to lay off approximately 17 percent of its workforce as part of a restructuring plan.

According to a company filing with the SEC, Twilio had 8,992 employees in September 2022, so it is estimated that around 1,500 employees are set to depart.

Twilio staff were told about the lay offs in a company-wide email sent from Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson.

In the email, Lawson said: “A company optimizes for its environment. For the last 15 years, we ran Twilio for growth, building a tremendous customer base, product set, and revenue base.

“But environments change – and so must we. Now we have to prioritize profit far more than before. We’re exiting the last phase with a great market position, and very strong cash reserves, but unfortunately that’s not enough to get us through the next phase.

“We have to spend less, streamline, and become more efficient. To do that, we’re forming two business units: Twilio Communications and Twilio Data & Applications.

“And today, I’m unfortunately bearing the news that we’re parting ways with approximately 17% of our team.”

As well as the laying off of staff, Twilio is planning a shift to remote work and is aiming to shut down some offices over the coming months.

Lawson has stated that the company intends to maintain a “handful” of global hubs and satellite offices.

Twilio has seen low office utilisation from its employees and aims to redirect some of the cost savings into higher travel budgets to allow employees to see each other more often.

A Rough Patch?

Twilio laying off around 1,500 employees comes just five months after the company laid off 11 percent of its workforce in September 2022.

At the time, Twilio put the major lay offs down to the need to increase the company’s profitability.

Speaking about the September lay offs this week; Lawson commented: “At that time, we sought to streamline the company as it was then structured.

“Today’s news, however, is more driven by the need to organize ourselves differently for success – and the changes needed to enact this new structure.

“Both the reorganization and the reductions increase our ability to drive profit and growth, both of which are required in this new environment.”

Now Lawson feels it is apparent that Twilio needs significant structural changes to execute better the company’s strategy for its communications and software branches.

The company is aiming to be more efficient within its communications branch, and it is looking to accelerate growth for its Segment, Flex, and Engage products.

To do this Twilio is forming two business units, which are Twilio Data & Applications and Twilio Communications.

Tech Industry Unrest

The laying off of staff is a trend across the technology industry, with numerous lay off announcements from multiple organisations in recent months.

At the time of writing, 356 tech companies have laid off 104,557 employees since the start of 2023, according to the redundancy-tracking website, layoffs.fyi.

Huge companies such as Microsoft, RingCentral, Amazon, Cisco, and Zoom have all announced job cuts within the last six months.

 

 



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