Hootsuite announces 2nd round of layoffs in 4 months amid restructuring

Social media company Hootsuite Inc. says it is laying off five per cent of its staff, just a few months after it laid off 30 per cent as part of a global restructuring.

Spokeswoman Tonja Aldis says the latest round of layoffs came from areas of duplication, reduced or slowed demand and management.

When restructuring at the Vancouver-based company was announced in August, CEO Tom Keiser said Hootsuite needed to refocus its business so it could drive efficiency, growth and financial sustainability.

William Johnson, publisher of Vancouver Tech Journal, says Wednesday's announcement was a bit unexpected.

"The second round of layoffs is surprising for a lot of people because usually when companies make these types of large-scale layoffs, really they designed the first round to be the last round," he said.

"Because a lot of people think about what these employees are going through and how that can be quite unnerving to be working at an organization where you have to think about your job security."

Vancouver's Dapper Labs also said Wednesday that it is laying off 22 per cent of its workforce in an effort to find "a more sustainable cost structure."

The crypto and blockchain firm is known for Top Shot, an online marketplace for buying, selling and trading NBA highlights as NFTs. 

This latest round of layoffs comes as part of a wider trend in tech, with companies like Shopify Inc., Wealthsimple, RenoRun and others announcing cuts to their staff.

Data from Layoffs.fyi shows 728 startups worldwide have laid off about 95,732 employees this year.

Technology companies were among the best performers during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, but their fortunes have turned in 2022 as economic concerns have investors moving to established companies rather than growth stocks.