Snap is cutting 1,000 workers in the latest tech layoff

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

Snap, the parent company of disappearing messaging app Snapchat, said Wednesday that it’s laying off 1,000 workers to reduce costs.The Santa Monica social media company is pursuing profitability and efficiency as it faces stiff competition for ad dollars from bigger rivals such as Facebook parent company Meta and Google.Snap said it’s slashing 16% of its full-time workforce and closing more than 300 open roles.The cuts will reduce Snap’s annualized cost base by more than $500 million by the second half of this year.“Over the past several months, we have carefully reviewed the work required to best serve our community and partners, and made tough choices to prioritize the investments we believe are most likely to create long-term value,” said Snap Chief Executive and co-founder Evan Spiegel in a memo to employees on Wednesday.The memo, which was included in a government filing, also mentions that Snap’s employees are using artificial intelligence tools to “drive meaningful progress” across several initiatives such as Snapchat Plus — a subscription service that offers users early access to new features and ways to customize the Snapchat app.“While these changes are necessary to realize Snap’s long-term potential, we believe that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers,” Spiegel said in the memo.Snap is the latest tech company to cite efficiency gains from AI as it cuts jobs and pull back on hiring.

Tech companies such as Meta, Block, Amazon, Oracle and others have been laying off workers this year.Snap’s layoffs also come after activist investor Irenic Capital Management took a stake in the company and called for the company to cut costs through layoffs and other efforts.

Snap said that its restructuring efforts are estimated to...