Reddit announced on Tuesday that it is laying off approximately 5% of its workforce, or 90 employees, joining a long list of technology companies that have been laying off workers across Silicon Valley.
As the industry braces for an economic downturn, tech companies such as Meta Platforms have been laying off workers after aggressively hiring during the pandemic.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, cut jobs across its business and operations units last month, completing the final phase of a three-part layoff round that began in March with the goal of eliminating 10,000 positions.
Reddit, which was spun off from Conde Nast in 2011, has seen a recent surge in popularity due to the popularity of WallStreetBets and other forums on its platform that have become a venue for retail investors to speculate on stocks.
The Wall Street Journal broke the news of Reddit’s departure on Tuesday, citing an email sent to employees by CEO Steve Huffman.
According to the WSJ, Huffman stated that the company would reduce its hiring for the remainder of the year to around 100 people, down from an initial plan of 300.
After the company’s message boards became the go-to destination for day traders during a meme stock frenzy, Reddit filed for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2021.
