Twitch will lay off 500 employees in addition to cuts to Amazon Prime Video and Studios

Amazon’s streaming outlet Twitch is laying off 500 employees, according to a memo from CEO Dan Clancy to employees.

The job cuts come in addition to layoffs at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, which plan to lay off hundreds of employees, according to a memo from division chief Mike Hopkins.

In a memo to staff, Clancy wrote: “As you all know, we have worked hard over the past year to run our business as sustainably as possible. Unfortunately, we still have work to do to get our business to the right scale.”

“I regret to share that we have taken the painful step of reducing our workforce by just over 500 people on Twitch,” Clancy continued. “This is going to be a very tough day.”

“Over the past year, we’ve been working to build a more sustainable business so that Twitch will be here for the long term. Throughout the year we have cut costs and made many decisions to be more efficient,” said the CEO. “Unfortunately, despite these efforts, it has become clear that our organization is still significantly larger than necessary given the size of our business.”

“Last year we paid out over $1 billion to streamers,” Clancy noted. “So while the Twitch business remains strong, the size of the organization has for some time been based on where we optimistically expect our business to be in three or more years, rather than where we are today.”

“This decision, while incredibly difficult and painful, is necessary to ensure we can continue to sustainably serve our streamers without impacting their ability to support their careers on Twitch,” Clancy said.

Those affected by the layoffs will soon receive an email with news and details about the transition.

“For anyone leaving Twitch today, I know how important it is to say goodbye to your colleagues so you can keep access to Slack and your email until 1pm PT,” Clancy added.

News of the Twitch layoffs was originally reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday. Clancy referred to what he considered a “leak” in a blog post officially announcing the layoffs.

This comes as earlier today, Twitch’s siblings Amazon Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios also announced layoffs. Amazon plans to cut hundreds of jobs at the division.

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