The corporate parent of social media company Snapchat plans to cut 10% of its workforce, the latest technology firm to eliminate jobs.
Snap said Monday it would shed about 500 employees to support its growth over time, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The move comes after the Santa Monica, California-based firm reached a deal last month to expand its real estate in its hometown.
“We are reorganizing our team to reduce hierarchy and promote in-person collaboration," a Snap spokesperson told CoStar News.
Snap is the latest technology company to cut jobs at the start of 2024, following similar moves from firms including Google, Amazon and Microsoft. Tech job cuts in recent years have added to a drop in demand for office space, exacerbating growing vacancy rates largely caused by the pandemic.
Snap did not disclose what departments or markets will be affected by the job cuts. It follows a cut of 20% in the firm's headcount in 2022. A few months after that announcement, Snap said it would close an office in San Francisco.
Snap signed a 10-year office lease last month for roughly 467,000 square feet at Santa Monica Business Park, a property near its headquarters. The company previously leased about 334,000 square feet at the building.
The lease ranks among the largest office deals signed in greater Los Angeles since the start of the pandemic.
The company is among the biggest tech employers in greater Los Angeles and has been a symbol of the city's rise in attracting tech talent after growing into an international social media giant from its early startup days in the 2010s in L.A.'s Venice neighborhood.
Snap occupied roughly 720,000 square feet in Santa Monica as of December 2022, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Around the same time, the company employed a full-time staff of 5,288.
Snap's growth in greater Los Angeles has helped draw other tech companies to what became known as Silicon Beach, or the tech-focused office market along the Pacific Ocean in greater L.A. The company started with small offices in Los Angeles' Venice neighborhood before consolidating into larger buildings in Santa Monica.