Roku to slash 200 jobs, amounting to 6% of workforce

(NEW YORK) — Roku plans to lay off another 200 workers, or 6% of its workforce, the video-streaming company said in a government filing on Thursday, just months after a prior round of layoffs in the fall that slashed 200 jobs.

The company’s revenue surged during the pandemic when customers stuck indoors came to rely on at-home entertainment.

However, the return of consumer habits more closely resembling pre-pandemic life has posed a challenge for the San Jose, California-based company.

The round of layoffs, which the company described as a “restructuring plan,” aims to “lower the Company’s year-over-year operating expense growth and prioritize projects that the Company believes will have a higher return on investment,” the government filing said.

The layoffs will cost the company between $30 and $35 million due to severance payments and other employee benefits, the filing said.

The company’s revenue stood essentially unchanged over the last three months of 2022 compared with the same period a year ago, according to an earnings report released last month.

Roku had previously warned of a difficult business environment expected at the end of last year due to a slowdown in ad spending and the adverse effects of inflation.

Shares of Roku ticked up about 1.5% in early trading on Thursday.

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