Dropbox Inc. co-founder Drew Houston waits while Dropbox (DBX) is listed for the company’s initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq Market Site in New York, USA, March 23, 2018.
Lucas Jackson | Reuters
Dropbox is reducing its global workforce by about 11%, the company said in an 8K document released on Wednesday. Dropbox shares fell more than 3.5% in the morning.
The change will affect 315 people, who will be notified by the end of the business day.
“The steps we are taking today are painful, but necessary,” Dropbox CEO Drew Houston said in a memo to employees on Wednesday. Dropbox has pledged to preserve job security until 2020, but Houston said that looking at this year “it is clear that we need to make changes to create a healthy and prosperous business for the future”.
The company said that job cuts will help it focus on its top priorities for the year, which include evolving the basic Dropbox experience, investing in new products and promoting operational excellence.
Dropbox in October switched to a standard remote work policy, which will be in effect even after the Covid-19 pandemic ends. For employees who need to meet or work together in person, the company said it will open “Dropbox Studios” in San Francisco, Seattle, Austin and Dublin when it is safe to do so.
“Our recent decisions about our new leadership structure and remote working policy have put us on the right track and now we need to ensure that our teams and investments are also aligned. For example, our Virtual First policy means we need less resources to support our environment so we’re reducing that investment and redistributing those resources to drive our ambitious product roadmap, ”said Houston.
Dropbox also announced that Chief Operating Officer Olivia Nottebohm will leave the company on February 5.
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