Snapchat lays off 16% of staff in global restructuring to curb losses

Snapchat is undergoing a significant global restructuring, with CEO Evan Spiegel announcing on June 9, 2026, that 16% of its workforce, totaling over 1,000 employees, will be laid off. This drastic measure aims to curb the company's persistent financial losses, which have plagued the tech firm since its inception.

The multimedia social media platform faces a precarious financial situation, having lost $460 million in 2025 alone. Despite boasting 946 million monthly active users, Snapchat's advertising revenue lags behind competitors with more extensive data structures. The company has reportedly not closed a single profitable fiscal year in its 15-year history.

Snapchat's initial rise to popularity was fueled by its pioneering multimedia ephemeral messaging format, launched in September 2011 by Reggie Brown, Bobby Murphy, and Evan Spiegel. However, its growth stagnated as it failed to consolidate its presence beyond English-speaking markets. This allowed competitors to adapt its core features with enhanced data segmentation capabilities.

The commercial decline intensified when Meta, formerly Facebook, integrated temporary story formats into Instagram. According to technical reports, advertisers increasingly favor digital ecosystems with greater volumes of indexed commercial data, a weakness that directly impacted Snapchat's advertising revenue model. Despite these challenges, the platform is currently experiencing a media visibility surge, largely attributed to Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland's frequent use of its interactive augmented reality filters, which has introduced Snapchat to new global demographics and boosted traffic for its paid commercial subscription.