Protocol Labs Announces Layoffs, Cuts 89 Roles
- Creator of Litecoin, Protocol Labs, has laid off almost 21% of its workforce due to the worsening macroeconomic situation.
- CEO of the company, Juan Benet, confirmed that “they have taken the decision to part ways with a number of valued friends and colleagues.”
- Protocol Labs plans to “adapt to this dynamic landscape” and “prepare for a longer downturn.”
- The company reached out to all the affected employees via email and initiated face-to-face calls to offer their support.
All the businesses around the globe are currently laying off massive amounts of their workforce, and the tech sector seems to have been hit the hardest. Interestingly, the crypto industry has also witnessed a fair share of job cuts due to the worsening situation of the market and the overall decrease in interest in cryptocurrencies. It is crucial to note that the creator of Litecoin (LTC), Protocol Labs, has laid off almost 21% of its workforce due to the worsening macroeconomic situation.
Protocol Labs, an open-source software laboratory widely known for the creation of the decentralized file storage network Filecoin, has cut 89 jobs. The CEO of the company, Juan Benet, confirmed that “they have taken the decision to part ways with a number of valued friends and colleagues” in a blog post.
Benet noted that the crypto winter has been an “extremely challenging economic downturn” and noted that “high inflation leading to high interest rates, low investment, and tougher markets have rocked companies and industries globally.” The Protocol Labs’ executive stated that “macro winter worsened crypto winter, making it more extreme and potentially longer than our industry expected.”
Benet added that Protocol Labs plans to “adapt to this dynamic landscape” and “prepare for a longer downturn.” In order to reduce operating costs further, the company will reduce its workforce by 21%. The executive noted that his firm “worked extremely hard to avoid this.”
“To weather the macro and crypto winter, PL teams have significantly cut costs over the last quarters, reducing team budgets, infra spend, investments, grant programs, and much more. These have been tough times and our teams have succeeded greatly in reducing costs while maintaining services and growing projects,” confirmed Protocol Labs CEO Juan Benet.
The company reached out to all the affected employees via email and initiated face-to-face calls to offer their support. Moreover, in the calls, those who are being let go “can have their specific questions answered regarding their departure, and walk through an enhanced version of our standard severance package.”
The talent team at Protocol Labs will also offer help to those being laid off so that they are able to find employment at some other reputed firm. Benet further added that:
“Our work is improving critical internet infrastructure, creating open networks that put the power in people’s hands, and developing a prolific innovation ecosystem. We already empower tens of millions of people world-wide with more resilient networks, and we’re on a path to reach billions. We have been tremendously successful and fortunate over the years. Sometimes we face tough setbacks, but we forge ahead because our work matters.”
As reported earlier by BitcoinWisdom, cryptocurrency exchange Huobi recently laid off 20% of its workforce, while another exchange, Coinbase, announced that it would let go of 6,000 employees. Interestingly, the largest exchange in the US had announced an 18% layoff in 2022 as well.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
