Spotify lays off 200 employees in podcast division

San Francisco: Music streaming platform Spotify on Monday announced it was sacking 200 employees, 2 per cent of its workforce, from its podcast division as part of a corporate reorganisation.

Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify's head of podcast division, announced that the company is expanding partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimised for each show and creator.

"However, doing so requires adapting; over the past few months, our senior leadership team has worked closely with HR to determine the optimal organisation for this next chapter," said Elhabashi.

Those impacted in layoffs received emails from HR. The company said it will support these individuals with "generous severance packages, including extended healthcare coverage and immediate access to outplacement support".

As part of the next phase, the company will combine Parcast and Gimlet into a renewed Spotify Studios operation that will continue to produce a wide range of original shows.

Julie McNamara, VP, Head of Global Podcast Studios, will continue to oversee the Spotify Studios organisation, with Liliana Kim in charge of Current Content for Spotify Studios alongside Liz Gateley, who will be Head of Development.

In January this year, Spotify slashed 6 per cent of its workforce, or about 600 staffers, globally.

The Swedish music streaming platform crossed 515 million monthly active users (MAUs) in Q1 2023, a 22 per cent (year-on-year) increase from 489 MAUs in last quarter -- its strongest first quarter since going public in 2018.