Streamer Roku has become the latest firm to cut staff numbers amid slowing growth for the tech sector.
Roku, which sells connected TV hardware and advertising on its streaming platform, is to reduce its headcount expenses by a projected 5%, affecting 200 employee positions in the United States.
Roku cited the “current economic conditions in our industry” for the “difficult decision to reduce” staff numbers.
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“Taking these actions now will allow us to focus our investments on key strategic priorities to drive future growth and enhance our leadership position,” said Roku in a statement.
Tech companies including Meta Platforms, Netflix, Amazon and Twitter have reduced staff this year. Facebook parent Meta is laying off 11,000 employees — or 13% of its workforce — and Amazon plans to cut as many as 10,000 jobs.
Roku expects to book a charge between $28 million and $31 million in the fourth quarter related to the layoffs, mainly severance payments and associated costs.
Roku had 3,000 full-time employees in 13 countries as of December 31 last year.
In a letter to shareholders earlier this month, Roku CEO Anthony Wood said that ad spending on Roku’s platform grew more slowly than its earlier forecast in part because of weakness in the TV ad market.
“As we enter the holiday season, we expect the macro environment to further pressure consumer discretionary spend and degrade advertising budgets, especially in the TV scatter market,” Wood wrote. “We expect these conditions to be temporary, but it is difficult to predict when they will stabilize or rebound.”
Wood said the company expected its fourth-quarter revenue to be $800 million, down from $865.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
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