Image: © Cloudy Design/Stock.adobe.com
Some of the 260 people working at Twilio’s EMEA headquarters in Dublin are reportedly affected by the ‘wise and necessary’ move.
US cloud communications company Twilio has announced plans to lay off 11pc of its global workforce in a bid to cut costs and reach profitability.
In an email sent out to employees on Wednesday (14 September), Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson broke the news of the layoffs, citing the need to restructure the company and refocus on its priorities.
“Twilio has grown at an astonishing rate over the past couple years. It was too fast, and without enough focus on our most important company priorities. I take responsibility for those decisions, as well as the difficult decision to do this layoff,” he wrote.
Lawson added that while it was an “extremely difficult decision”, it was also “wise and necessary”.
The move affects approximately 11pc of Twilio’s global workforce of more than 8,000. This includes some of the 260 people employed at the company’s EMEA headquarters in Dublin.
While the exact number is not clear, several Twilio staff members in Ireland have been told their jobs will be impacted by the move, according to the Business Post. The outlet reported that the roles at risk are mostly in sales, finance and talent acquisition, and not as much in R&D.
‘Do fewer things better’
Based in San Francisco, Twilio provides cloud-based communication tools to companies looking to engage with their customers more efficiently. It was founded in 2008 and reported revenue of more than $2.8bn last year.
In a bid to push for profitability, Lawson said in the email to staff that he has asked Twilio executives to “further examine their priorities” and that all employees have “full permission” to question any activity that doesn’t help the company achieve its priorities in a measurable way.
“I am not asking you all to ‘do more with less’. I’m asking the company to actually do fewer things better,” he wrote.
“I take responsibility for choosing to grow our team faster and to pursue many priorities … over the recent years. And now, I also own the decision to become more focused.”
Last month, Twilio said it suffered a data breach after employees were tricked into sharing their login credentials through a phishing scam.
10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.
