Snap Said to Be Cutting 20% of Workforce

Snap Inc. is planning to lay off about 20% of its nearly 6,500 employees following weeks of planning, the Verge reported.

Job cuts will begin on Wednesday with the team working on Minis, small applications made by third-parties which run in the Snapchat app, affected the most, the report said. Zenly, the company Snap acquired in 2017 for social mapping, will also be affected by the workforce reduction.

A Snap spokesperson declined to comment to the Verge.

Separately, Snap’s Chief Business Officer Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor, vice president of the Americas, have agreed to join Netflix Inc. to help lead its global advertising business starting in September, AdAge said in a report on Tuesday, citing statements from the executives and Netflix’s Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters.

Snap shares dropped 7.3% in premarket trading on Wednesday before markets opened in New York. The stock has slumped 79% this year as the company has faced a slowdown in advertiser spending on the platform. Due to the uncertainty, Snap told investors in July that it wouldn’t offer specific guidance for the current quarter.

To weather the business environment, the company has said it will focus on three main priorities: growing the user base, improving direct-response advertising business and how it measures ad spending and finding new sources of revenue.

—With assistance from Alex Barinka.