SiriusXM announced on Monday that it is cutting off 8 percent of its personnel, or approximately 475 employees, in reaction to slowing subscriber growth, joining Spotify, Microsoft, and Google.
The satellite radio company issued a warning earlier this year that it anticipated a decline in customers in 2023 due to widespread worries about a recession. Moreover, Sirius relies largely on advertising revenue from automakers, whose sales have declined in recent months.
CEO Jennifer Witz stated in a letter to staff, “We have simplified our non-headcount costs by reducing content and marketing expenditures, reducing our real estate footprint, and most recently by introducing stricter Travel and Entertainment policies.” Nonetheless, today’s decision to downsize our personnel was necessary for us to retain a profitable business model.
When the firm implements a more simplified organizational structure, “almost every function within SiriusXM will be affected,” she added.
The separation packages for laid-off employees will include severance pay, transitional health insurance coverage, a continuation of the Employee Advocacy Program, and outplacement services.
“This is one of the most difficult days we’ve faced as a team, and these changes have a profound effect on each of us,” Witz wrote. “Yet, I believe that these difficult decisions were required in order to seize the opportunity at hand.”