Spotify’s Daniel Ek
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Spotify announced Monday it’s laying off roughly 200 employees, or about 2% of its-person workforce, as part of an effort to change how the streaming company handles its partnership with “leading podcasters from across the globe.”
Spotify’s global workforce was 8,359 people in 2020, according to an SEC filing, with 4,332 of those employees in the United States.
The cuts were announced by Sahar Elhabashi, vice president at Spotify, in a memo to employees. Those impacted will be provided with “generous severance packages,” Elhabashi said.
Elhabashi said the “fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better.”
Spotify has spent heavily to expand its podcast unit in the last three years. Since 2020, Spotify spent 493 million euros ($526 million), on four different acquisitions in the podcast space, according to an SEC filing.
Spotify also entered into high-profile sponsorship deals with prominent names like Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Joe Rogan, the online personality.
Spotify did not immediately return a request for comment.
