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Snapchat is laying off 16% of its workforce as part of organizational changes at the company. The move is intended to help the social network find “a new way of working that is faster and more efficient, while pivoting towards profitable growth,” says CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel.
Approximately 1,000 employees will be affected by the job cuts; they will be notified via email today. In the US, impacted employees will receive four months of severance, healthcare coverage, equity vesting, and career transition support. Snap will also close more than 300 open roles.
Spiegel says the decision came after months of reviewing work priorities and focusing on investments that could generate long-term value. With these reductions, the company expects to reduce its annual expenses by over $500 million by the second half of this year.
The decision was also influenced by rapid AI developments. With AI tools, smaller teams within the company have driven progress and enhanced performance, Spiegel says. Around 65% of the company’s new code is reportedly being written by AI agents. “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," he adds.
In November, Snap struck a deal with Perplexity to enable conversational AI search. It will pay Perplexity $400 million to close the deal over the course of a year.
Since the beginning of 2025, several tech companies have announced layoffs linked to rapid AI development or organizational efficiency, including HP, Amazon, Intel, Meta, and Microsoft.