- 🔴Recruiting & HR (95%) ─ Reason: Hiring slows, recruiters redundant.
- 🔴Middle Management / Project Managers (85%) ─ Reason: Redundant oversight, management bloat.
- 🔴Non-Core Product Teams (Engineers/PMs) (80%) ─ Reason: Underperforming features, strategic pivot.
Layoffs & Culture at Wattpad
THE NUMBERS
THE SCALE
HISTORY
- 🔴Recruiting & Talent Acquisition (95%) ─ Reason: Hyper-growth over, hiring freeze ensues.
- 🔴Marketing & Growth (Paid Acquisition) (85%) ─ Reason: Discretionary spending, focus shifts to efficiency.
- 🔴Content Moderation & Community Management (80%) ─ Reason: Operational costs high, direct revenue impact low.
- 🔴Recruiting & Talent Acquisition (90%) ─ Reason: Hiring pipeline halted; recruiters benched.
- 🔴People Operations / Onboarding (85%) ─ Reason: No new hires; onboarding demand vanishes.
- 🔴Employer Branding & Sourcing (80%) ─ Reason: Attracting candidates pointless; hiring suspended.
THE ANALYSIS
Wattpad's workforce strategy from late 2022 through early 2024 reflects a pronounced shift towards consolidation and operational efficiency amidst evolving market dynamics. The company initiated a soft hiring freeze in December 2022, signaling an early response to anticipated economic headwinds. This cautious approach escalated into significant workforce reductions, with 42 employees impacted in March 2023, directly attributed to a changing economic environment. Further strategic adjustments materialized in January 2024, involving the departure of 20 employees as part of a broader company reorganization. This pattern indicates a deliberate move to streamline operations and optimize resource allocation, pivoting from prior growth phases to a more focused, leaner structure. The cumulative effect of these actions underscores a strategic imperative to enhance resilience and adapt to prevailing economic conditions, emphasizing internal restructuring over expansion. The absence of subsequent workforce data beyond early 2024 suggests a period of stabilization following these adjustments.
Wattpad has eliminated a total of 62 positions across 3 workforce events.













