Reddit announced on Tuesday that the company is laying off about 5 percent of its workforce, or 90 employees, joining a list of tech companies that have been shedding jobs across corporate America.
Tech companies, including Meta Platforms have shed jobs after aggressively hiring new employees during the pandemic as the industry braces for an economic downturn.
Meta, the owner of Facebookcut jobs across its business and operational units last month as it implemented the final phase of a three-part round of layoffs first announced in March that was expected to cut 10,000 jobs.
Reddit, which was spun out of magazine conglomerate Conde Nast in 2011, has recently experienced a resurgence due to the popularity of WallStreetBets and other forums on its platform, which have become a haven for retail investors to speculate on stocks.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on Reddit’s move Tuesday, citing an email to employees from CEO Steve Huffman.
Huffman said the company will also reduce hiring for the remainder of the year from an original 300 to about 100, according to the WSJ report.
In December 2021, Reddit had confidentially filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO after the company’s message boards became the go-to place for day traders during a meme stock boom.
According to Reuters, the company was expected to be valued at more than US$15 billion (approximately Rs.1.14380 billion). reported in September 2021.
Earlier this year, the company was valued at US$10 billion (about Rs.76,260 crore) in a private fundraising round.
Reddit was too allegedly Wall Street banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group have been selected for their IPO.
Founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, Reddit has more than 50 million daily active users and over 100,000 communities.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
