Employees at Twitch are concerned about potential additional layoffs

Twitch might be planning another series of layoffs.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the platform is experiencing a slowdown in user growth, suggesting further job cuts could be imminent.

Previous rounds of layoffs occurred in March 2023, October 2023, and January 2024, resulting in at least 900 employees losing their jobs.

Despite generating roughly $2 billion in ad revenue and other income in 2023, according to internal documents reviewed by the WSJ, parent company Amazon is still concerned about Twitch's profitability. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who started in 2021, has prioritized a profitability review, expressing low tolerance for ventures that are not financially successful.

Within Twitch, concerns are growing that it might end up like Goodreads, another Amazon acquisition that has seen a decrease in prominence.

An Amazon representative told WSJ that the company remains positive about Twitch's potential, emphasizing its unique ability to engage difficult-to-reach audiences and noting the lack of significant competition in the livestreaming sector.

In January, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy mentioned that the platform is adjusting its organizational size in response to its current scale and conservative future growth forecasts, much like other tech firms.

Recent updates to Twitch's sexual harassment policies have been made, introducing an AutoMod category to help identify potentially inappropriate messages.

These updates come after allegations that prominent streamer Dr Disrespect had exchanged inappropriate messages with a minor on the platform.

Guy "Dr Disrespect" Beahm addressed the issue regarding his 2020 Twitch ban, revealing that the ban was implemented after Twitch discovered he had communicated with a minor in 2017 via its platform.