Unity has laid off approximately 600 employees in its third round of layoffs over the past year, according to a Wall Street Journal report, which says the company is also looking to cut the number [[link]] of offices it maintains worldwide nearly in half over the next few years, from 58 to 30.
According to Unity, the layoffs are part of an effort to reduce layers of management, streamline its operations, and improve the company's profitability. "It's all about setting ourselves up for higher growth," Unity CEO John Riccitiello said.
The job cuts follow two previous rounds of layoffs, one in January and one in June 2022, which saw more than 500 people put out of work. The 600 employees let go in this round represent a little more than 8% of Unity's total workforce.
The layoffs come shortly after Unity reported its first profitable quarter since going public in 2022: The company earned revenues of $451 million for its fourth quarter, which ended on December 31, 2022, and "record revenue" of $1.39 billion for the full year. That's an awful lot of money, but apparently not enough: Unity's growth apparently slowed last year, and revenue forecasts for the company's next quarter are lower than expected. That's taken a toll on the company's share price, which is down 11% so far this year, while the NASDAQ stock exchange as a whole is up 15%.