Twitch confirms layoffs of more than 500 people

Twitch is going to lay off more than 500 people. On Jan. 10, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy made a blog post about this and shared details about the next steps. Read on for details.

According to Clancy, his team is reducing the headcount of Twitch employees by more than 500 people. In a post made on Jan. 10, he noted that Twitch has worked hard over the last year to run a sustainable business. However, Twitch still needs to rightsize itself.

"Unfortunately, we still have work to do to rightsize our company and I regret having to share that we are taking the painful step to reduce our headcount by just over 500 people across Twitch," Clancy stated.

Among these layoffs is the former esports competition manager for Twitch Rivals. In a post on X, he recalled working with Twitch and creating bonds with different communities.

Similarly, former Twitch Rivals and Twitch community program manager CloudFuel got let go. In a post, CloudFuel stated that it was an honor to help build programs such as Twitch Rivals itself, Broadcaster Royale, and more.

Clancy's blog post did not go into specifics about which individuals lost their jobs and the future of the Twitch Rivals program.

Clancy then talked about Twitch's efforts to build a more sustainable business. Despite those efforts, he observed that the organization remains larger than necessary. He added how Twitch paid out over $1 billion to streamers in 2023.

"So while the Twitch business remains strong, for some time now the organization has been sized based upon where we optimistically expect our business to be in [three] or more years, not where we’re at today," he continued. "As with many other companies in the tech space, we are now sizing our organization based upon the current scale of our business and conservative predictions of how we expect to grow in the future."

He reiterated that the painful decision is a necessary one. This is because Twitch wishes to continue serving its streamers. Clancy then provided details about what affected individuals can expect soon.

In the post, Clancy stated that individuals residing in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, or Singapore will soon receive an email about the unfortunate news. The email will include details about how Twitch will support them through the transition. Next, an organization leader will reach out with information about severance packages and offer to speak with individuals in one-on-one meetings.

If an individual is affected and they don't live in one of the aforementioned locations, then they will soon get an email from chief people officer Lauren Nunes about the next steps. These steps will vary by country.

"For everyone who is leaving Twitch today, I know how important it is to say goodbye to your colleagues, so you will retain access to Slack and your email until [1 p.m.] PT (if you are in Singapore, you will have access until [12 p.m.] local time)," Clancy added.

As for those whose roles were not affected, Clancy will host regional all-hands meetings throughout the day. This will allow individuals to hear from him directly.

"I also want to acknowledge how disappointed I was yesterday that this information leaked," Clancy noted, referring to a Bloomberg report. "I am sorry for all of the anxiety that it caused over the last several hours. Our hope was that you all would hear from us this morning and very quickly understand how this impacted your role and we were unfortunately not able to accelerate the timeline, which I know is very frustrating."

Twitch's CEO then apologized to those leaving the organization. He also thanked them for their efforts in building Twitch and its community.

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more news and updates.