After letting 600 employees go in January, and 200 more in June, streaming giant Spotify (SPOT.N) announced on Monday it is laying off around 1,500 employees, or 17% of its workforce.
In early trading, its U.S.-listed shares surged about 11% to trade near $200.46, their two-year high.
Some tech companies have begun reducing their workforce again, with announcements from Amazon to Microsoft-owned LinkedIn following a round of job cuts at the start of the year.
While Spotify’s output has increased, much of it is due to having more resources, according to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, in a letter to employees.
Due to the layoffs, Spotify will incur about 130 million euros to 145 million euros in charges in the fourth quarter, with most of the cash component of the charges recorded in the first and second quarters of 2024.
