Amazon.com Inc.’s live streaming platform, Twitch, is reportedly set to undergo a significant workforce reduction, with around 35% of its staff, approximately 500 employees, expected to be affected.
The potential announcement of these cuts may come as early as Wednesday(today), marking a series of job reductions within the company.
Based on reports, this move follows concerns about financial losses at Twitch and a string of departures by several high-ranking executives over the past few months. The company’s spokesperson has chosen not to provide comments on these developments.
Despite Twitch’s reliance on Amazon’s infrastructure, the operation of a large-scale website supporting 1.8 billion hours of live video content each month incurs heavy expenses, as acknowledged by company executives. In December, Twitch’s Chief Executive Officer, Dan Clancy, revealed plans to cease operations in South Korea due to “prohibitively expensive” costs.
While Twitch has intensified its focus on advertising in recent years, the platform remains unprofitable even nine years after Amazon’s acquisition.
In the last quarter of 2023, Twitch witnessed the departure of several key executives, including the chief product officer, chief customer officer, and chief content officer. The platform also lost its chief revenue officer, who previously worked within Amazon’s Ads unit.
