Image: © Sundry Photography/Stock.adobe.com
While reports suggest the closure of its advocacy division, a spokesperson said advocacy is still ‘a central tenet’ of the non-profit’s work.
Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit arm of Mozilla, is reorganising its teams, which will result in a 30pc reduction of its current workforce.
In a statement shared with SiliconRepublic.com, Mozilla’s VP of communications, Brandon Borrman, said the restructure aims to “increase agility and impact” as the organisation accelerates its work.
“That unfortunately means ending some of the work we have historically pursued and eliminating associated roles to bring more focus going forward. We’re not sharing a specific number, but it represents about 30pc of the current team,” he said.
According to TechCrunch, Mozilla Foundation’s executive director Nabiha Syed confirmed in an email to staff that the advocacy and global programmes divisions are “no longer part of our structure”.
However, Borrman said that the restructuring does not mean advocacy has been dropped, adding that “on the contrary, advocacy is still a central tenet of Mozilla Foundation’s work and we are in the process of revisiting our approach to it”.
Mozilla, which is the tech company behind the Firefox browser, consists of five organisations, including the Mozilla Foundation. These are the Mozilla Corporation, which leads its consumer product work; Mozilla Ventures, a tech-for-good investment fund; Mozilla AI, an R&D lab for artificial intelligence; and MZLA, which makes its open-source software project, Thunderbird.
While the latest restructure only appears to affect its non-profit arm, Mozilla was hit with layoffs earlier this year.
In February, the company announced plans to scale back its focus on certain products in favour of a focus on AI in Firefox. These layoffs effected roughly 60 employees and came shortly after a change in leadership, when Mitchell Baker stepped down as CEO of Mozilla after nearly four years in the role and 25 years at the company.
In June of this year, Mozilla acquired adtech start-up Anonym to increase its focus on privacy in the online advertising space.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
