Dropbox lays off 20% of its workforce

Dropbox, the well-known file hosting platform, has laid off 20% of its workforce, affecting 528 employees. The purpose of this measure is to adjust expenses in areas where the company had “overinvested” and reduce its structure to make it “flatter and more efficient,” as explained by Dropbox CEO, Drew Houston, in a letter addressed to his team. In the letter, Houston takes full responsibility for this decision, expressing his regret for the affected employees.

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The CEO has pointed out that “this market is moving quickly and investors are investing hundreds of millions of dollars” into the sector, validating Dropbox’s direction and underscoring the need to act with “greater urgency, even more aggressive investment, and decisive action.” The company estimates that these layoffs will result in a cost of between $63 and $68 million, mainly in the form of severance payments, which will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the rest planned for the first half of 2025.

In recent years, Dropbox has lost a significant market share to rivals like Google Drive and Microsoft’s OneDrive. In its last quarter, the company added only 63,000 new users to a base of 18 million, and revenue growth slowed to a historic low of 1.9%. Houston acknowledged the “weakening demand” and the difficulty in performing “at the level our customers deserve” and in line with its competitors.

The staff cut comes just a year after the company laid off another 500 workers. During this time, Dropbox has redirected its focus to artificial intelligence, expanding its advanced search tool, Dropbox Dash, with features specifically designed for businesses. Houston hinted that, in the coming days, Dropbox will share “more details about the high-level changes and our strategy for 2025.”

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