Unity announced today that it’s having its third round of layoffs, with this one affecting 600 staff members. It’s also reducing its number of offices from 58 to 30 or less within the next few years. Allegedly these cuts are prompted by fears of a recession.
Unity CEO John Riccitiello told the Wall Street Journal that the company was cutting the number of layers within the company. He said, “It’s all about setting ourselves up for higher growth.” The 600 employees laid off represent 8% of the workforce, and Unity will have a staff of around 7,000 in the aftermath.
The company had its last round of layoffs in January, where it lost almost 300 staff members. Before that, it laid off around 200 employees in June 2022, though Riccitiello has since claimed that many of those employees moved to new positions within the company. In all three cases, Unity has cited future planning as its reasons for doing so. A spokesperson said of the June layoffs, “[We} decided to realign some of our resources to better drive focus and support our long-term growth.”
Unity said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to “[restructure] specific teams” and that it expects to incur “$26 million in charges in connection with the restructuring.” Unity also revealed in February that it had its first profitable quarter as a public company, though it also posted very conservative estimates for 2023.