Vimeo lays off 11% employees amid 'uncertain economic environment'

Video hosting platform Vimeo will lay off 11% of its workforce amid an "uncertain economic environment," chief executive officer Anjali Sud said in a note to employees.

The majority of people impacted are in sales and R&D departments.

"This was a very hard decision that impacts each of us deeply. It is also the right thing to do to enable Vimeo to be a more focused and successful company, operating with the necessary discipline in an uncertain economic environment," Sud wrote in her message. "It positions us to both invest in our growth priorities and be sustainably profitable while continuing to innovate to bring the power of video to every business in the world."

Everyone whose job is impacted has received an email and an invite for a meeting with their team leader and HR, Sud says. The company will share specifics about which product and business areas are most impacted in a town hall today.

This isn't the first round of layoffs for the video hosting platform, which cut 6% of its staff in July 2022. "Several things have changed since we reduced our workforce by 6% in July. We have seen a further deterioration in economic conditions, in the form of prolonged geopolitical conflict, rising interest rates, and global recession fears. We also have a better understanding of where post-pandemic demand is settling and how that might impact our self-serve growth in the near term," the Vimeo CEO says.

"Last summer we committed to making Vimeo a sustainably profitable company. We delivered against that commitment by achieving positive adjusted EBITDA and positive free cash flow in Q3 of 2022— but as we’ve discussed, our bookings and revenue trends require ongoing cost discipline to maintain that trajectory going forward," she adds.

Sud says the company took action last quarter to streamline its non-headcount costs, from marketing spend to perks to office space. "However, our team remains our largest cost as a company. We are entering 2023 with a more focused strategy to simplify Vimeo, and ultimately, our team size and composition needs to reflect that focus. This reduction enables us to achieve our growth and profitability goals in a way that is far less dependent on the broader market, putting us in full control of our destiny," she says.

As of December 2021, Vimeo employed 1,219 full-time workers, according to its annual regulatory filing.