Roku to lay off 200 people after expected tough last quarter

Roku will lay off 200 of its employees (7% of wages). The streaming specialist blames the blow, as do other tech giants.

The latest entry in the now long list of layoffs in the tech world, Roku announces its intention to lay off about 200 of its employees, or almost 7% of its payroll. The streaming company announced the initiative in an SEC filing due to “economic conditions.”The company estimates that it will have to pay between $28 million and $31 million for this redundancy, primarily due to severance pay, notice (if applicable), employee benefit contributions and other expenses.

Roku will lay off 200 of its employees (7% of wages)

Roku explains that the vast majority of these layoffs will happen in the fourth quarter, with the rest expected to happen before the end of the first quarter of 2023. This is due to strategic priorities that will drive our future growth and further improve our market position.”

The layoffs follow Roku’s warning regarding its latest quarterly results. The company expects lower earnings compared to the same period last year. The company’s shares lost almost 3% after this announcement.

Streaming specialist blames blow, like other tech giants

Layoffs in the technological world, unfortunately, have become a trend in recent months. The Roku initiative follows Meta, which parted ways with 11,000 employees last week, Twitter, which ran out of about 3,800 contracts earlier this month, not to mention Amazon (10,000 jobs) and Microsoft. If Apple is still the exception, the Cupertino-based company has imposed a moratorium on hiring that should last until the end of 2023. Likewise, Disney has stopped recruiting and is expected to have to cut its staff. Netflix, for its part, laid off about 300 employees in June. Streaming companies, including Roku, have faced a volatile economy and lost revenue due to the surge during the Covid-19 pandemic.