Snap is cutting 1,000 workers in the latest tech layoff
Snap, the parent company of the disappearing messaging app Snapchat, said on Wednesday that it would lay off 1,000 workers to cut costs.
The Santa Monica social media company is chasing profitability and efficiency as it faces stiff competition for ad revenue from larger rivals like Facebook parent Meta and Google.
Snap said it would cut 16 percent of its full-time workforce and eliminate more than 300 open positions. The cuts will reduce Snap’s annual cost base by more than $500 million by the second half of this year.
“Over the past several months, we have carefully considered the work required to best serve our community and partners and made difficult choices to prioritize investments we believe are likely to create long-term value,” Snap Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Evan Spiegel said in a memo to employees Wednesday. he said.
The memo, included in a government filing, also mentions that Snap employees are using AI tools to “make meaningful progress” on various initiatives, such as Snapchat Plus, a subscription service that offers users early access to new features and ways to personalize the Snapchat app.
“While these changes are necessary to realize Snap’s long-term potential, we believe rapid advances in AI enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase speed, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers,” Spiegel said in his note. he said.
Snap is the latest tech company to talk about productivity gains from AI while cutting jobs and pulling back on hiring. Tech companies like Meta, Block, Amazon, Oracle and others are laying off workers this year.
Snap’s layoffs come after activist investor Irenic Capital Management took a stake in the company and called on the company to cut costs through layoffs and other efforts. Snap said the restructuring effort is estimated to cost between $95 million and $130 million due to severance pay, contract termination expenses and other expenses.
Snap has struggled with other obstacles beyond its financial situation.
Like other social media companies, Snap has faced criticism for not doing enough to protect young people’s mental health and reduce potential harms such as the sale of illegal drugs. The company revolutionized social media by popularizing vertical video and disappearing posts, but competitors like Meta-owned Instagram have copied those features. It has also invested in smart glasses, but convincing consumers to buy them has been an uphill battle.
Snap is investing heavily in developing augmented reality glasses that will allow people to browse the internet, interact with friends and family, play games and perform other tasks without having to navigate their smartphones. The company plans to start selling its AR glasses to consumers later this year, battling rivals like Meta, Google and Apple.
More than 940 million people use Snapchat every month. Although the company is slowly approaching 1 billion users, it has struggled to make a profit. Despite efforts to get people to pay subscription fees and buy glasses, Snap still makes most of its money from digital ads.
In 2025, Snap’s annual revenue reached $5.93 billion, an 11% increase compared to 2024. It reported a net loss of $460 million, down from Snap’s net loss of $698 million in 2024.
Over the past five years, Snap’s share price has fallen nearly 90% as investors become more wary of a potential turnaround. Shares of Snap rose around 5% on Wednesday.
