In a bid to restructure its operations, Jellysmack, a SoftBank Group SFTBF SFTBY-backed creator-economy startup, is laying off employees and reducing its creator program.
What Happened: Jellysmack is undergoing a reorganization and will be downsizing its workforce, reported Business Insider. The company has confirmed that 22 U.S.-based employees will be affected, with French employees also facing potential layoffs in the coming months.
The company is shifting its focus to its content business, which includes YouTube channels like Gamology, House of Bounce, Beauty Studio, and Oh My Goal. It is scaling back a program that helped creators earn money by posting content on Meta Platforms Inc META-owned apps like Facebook.
“Jellysmack is making organizational adjustments to better align resources with key areas of growth,” a company representative said according to the report. “Jellysmack’s goal is to prioritize and invest in our business units that hold IP, given their continued success on YouTube.”
This move comes after Jellysmack faced challenges in its business, including a decrease in monetization across platforms. The company, which initially focused on creating its own YouTube content, shifted to working with other creators to edit and recirculate their content across platforms like Facebook and Snap Inc‘s SNAP Snapchat to capture additional ad revenue.
Why It Matters: Jellysmack’s decision to restructure its operations and focus on its content business comes at a time when the creator economy is undergoing significant changes. Meta Platforms Inc. has also been restructuring its operations and laying off employees across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Reality Labs. This is part of a broader trend of tech companies reevaluating their strategies and operations, which has been ongoing for some time.
This was part of a strategic reshuffle aimed at boosting efficiency. The company has also been undergoing a prolonged process of evaluating individual employee performance for 2023, with the reviews now concluding. This has left many employees anxious about their job security.
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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote
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