Streaming company Roku to fire 200 US employees

Streaming company Roku has announced that it is laying off 200 US employees, or roughly 7 per cent of its workforce.

According to the company, the cuts aim to reduce its "headcount expenses" by around 5 per cent because it is trying to spend less on operations in the face of "current economic conditions" in the advertising and streaming industry, reports The Verge.

However, the 200 job cuts are a far greater reduction than the streaming company had expected when it released its Q3 earnings report just over two weeks ago.

As stated in its shareholder letter, the employees had grown significantly since 2021 because Roku's leadership "believed that the economy was emerging out of pandemic-related disruptions".

Therefore, the suggested solution was a slowdown in hiring rather than layoffs.

"In Q2, the company said that it was selling fewer streaming boxes, which impacts its revenue in more ways than one," the earnings report mentioned.

Since then, the company had increased the range of services it provides, by focusing on original content and introducing a range of smart home products.
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