Dallas, Texas-based Match Group, an American internet and technology company that owns and operates a portfolio of popular online dating services, including Tinder, Match.com, Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and other dating global brands, has announced plans to discontinue live-streaming services on its dating apps, and a 6% reduction in its workforce at the urging of activist investors, including Elliott Investment Management, Anson Funds Management and Starboard Value.
The reduction in force will impact approximately 138 employees.
According to a company statement, "We’re constantly optimizing our strategy and investment decisions to ensure they align with evolving user needs and preferences. As part of that approach, we’ve made the decision to exit live streaming services in our dating apps including Plenty of Fish®, and to sunset
Hyperconnect’s Hakuna app provides live streaming services primarily in Korea and Japan. These businesses lack scale in a competitive market and require substantial further investment, and we expect they will deliver margins below the Company’s desired level.
While this decision will result in the loss of approximately $60 million of annual Total Revenue, we’re confident it will be margin and growth-enhancing to the Company over the medium term and will allow us to focus on our businesses where we have proven advantages. We expect that exiting these live-streaming services, along with other ongoing initiatives across the portfolio, will result in total workforce reductions of approximately 6% globally, which we expect to result in annual cost savings of approximately $13 million in addition to our previously disclosed expected cost savings from platform consolidation."
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall; why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?