cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/30272690
When Spotify announced its largest-ever round of layoffs in December, CEO Daniel Ek hailed a new age of efficiency at the streaming giant. But four months on, it seems he and his executives weren’t prepared for how tough filling in for 1,500 axed workers would be.
The music streamer enjoyed record quarterly profits of €168 million ($179 million) in the first three months of 2024, enjoying double-digit revenue growth to €3.6 billion ($3.8 billion) in the process.
However, the company failed to hit its guidance on profitability and monthly active user growth.
Edit: Thanks to @[email protected] for the paywall-free link: https://archive.ph/wdyDS
If you think of corporations as tools, like a straw used to suck resources from the working class it makes more sense.
The goal isn’t corporate fitness, it’s not even corporate profit exactly. The point of a corporation is to make money for those in control of it, who are probably on boards for several other companies and can make new brands and pay to manage reputations as needed.
From a class perspective, this was arguably wise. That CEO will probably get a massive bonus and the board can profit off of the stock price fluctuations. Operations are not that important at this stage as long as it’s functional-ish. The name “Spotify” can be tossed or rehabilitated by PR firms.