Communications software company Twilio said Monday it was laying off 17% of its workers — about 1,500 workers — in the latest instance of a tech company slashing its staff.
The cuts come several months after the company laid off about 11% of its staff in September.
CEO Jeff Lawson said the restructuring was happening because “we have to spend less, streamline, and become more efficient.”
Lawson said Twilio is forming two business units — Twilio Data & Applications and Twilio Communications — since those two divisions “are at different lifecycle stages and have different operating needs.”
Laid-off U.S. employees would receive severance pay, continued health coverage, “the full value of Twilio’s February 15 vest” and other temporary benefits extensions, Lawson said.
“Outside the U.S., there is a broad range of employment laws, and we’ll take great care to guide these Twilions and their managers through these processes, such as required consultation periods,” he added.
Lawson also announced the company was ending some perks and benefits plans for the employees who remain, as well as closing some of the company’s offices as it shifts to more remote work.
“These changes hurt,” he said. “The weeks ahead will be about processing all this change and working together to acclimate to our new structure.”
Twilio is the latest tech company to announce significant layoffs in recent months. Last week, Zoom announced it was laying off 1,300 workers. In January, Spotify, Microsoft, Google and PayPal were among the many companies to announce cuts.