Dropbox collapse. 500 people to be dismissed
After the boom associated with remote work during the pandemic, Dropbox has clearly weakened. The company’s CEO, Drew Houston, is starting mass layoffs – 500 people will lose their jobs.
The head of the company takes full responsibility for the layoffs. It was his decisions that led to a 10% decline in the value of the company’s shares, which are now worth over 8 billion dollars. The problem is that it is not very possible to change the CEO – Houston is the co-founder of Dropbox and a significant shareholder with about 20% of the shares.
As CEO, I take full responsibility for this decision and the circumstances that led to it, and I sincerely apologize to all those affected by it.
I know this is extremely difficult and unwanted news. To everyone who is leaving Dropbox, I am deeply grateful for everything you have done for our company and our customers.
– quotes the president The Register
It is worth adding that this is not the first round of layoffs. In 2023, Dropbox said goodbye to 16% of its staffjoining the wave of cuts in the industry that followed dynamic growth during the pandemic.
Dropbox’s revenue has been growing slowly recently, reaching single-digit growth rates. However, this is only a shadow of the former dynamics of development of the popular cloud platform. The increases may be partly the result of the introduction of the affordable Dropbox Basic Extra tariff, for EUR 2 per month, which offers 50 GB of space. Previously, the cheapest plans started from a dozen or so euros and 2 GB of space.
Generous severance pay
For employees covered by the layoff program, the company has prepared generous severance pay, amounting to at least 16 weeks of salary and stock options for the fourth quarter of 2024. Additionally, employees will be able to keep their work computers.
