Unity Cuts Off 25% of Its Workforce as Part of a Corporate Restructuring

Reports suggest that Unity is undergoing another layoff, and this time, it’s going to affect 25% of its entire workforce or around 1,800 employees. This will reportedly be the largest round of layoffs in the software company’s history, much larger than what last year, and will be completed by March.

Unity is Laying Off 1,8000 Employees in the Company’s Largest Layoff 

In a regulatory filing published on Monday, Unity said the cuts were part of a company-wide restructuring and refocusing resources on its core business as it attempts to position itself for long-term growth. The San Francisco-headquartered firm stated that it expected to complete the layoffs by the end of the current fiscal year in March and that all areas and regions of its business will be affected. 

Unity has gone through multiple rounds of layoffs last year, and the most recent one affected 265 workers in November. However, the company has still not clarified whether they are cutting off 1,800 additional workers on top of the layoffs it announced last year. 

It’s been a difficult past year for Unity. In May 2023, the software company announced a round of layoffs that ended up affecting 600 employees, or about 8% of its workforce. This move was intended to help generate long-term growth. In September, Unity announced a pricing change for its ‘Unity Engine,’ which caused an uproar among developers who rely on the company’s products to develop video games. A number of developers protested the changes. Following the failed rollout of these changes, the company apologized and walked back most of its plans.

The next month, John Riccitiello stepped down as Unity’s CEO and left the board. Former IBM president James Whitehurst was appointed as Unity’s interim president and CEO when Riccitiello left and said further changes would be put in place to refocus the company’s resources.

Unity’s quarterly earnings report, which was published in November, confirmed the planned structural change, which it said would likely discontinue certain products and reduce the workforce. 

The latest Unity layoffs continue a horrible trend in the video game industry, which saw 10,000 jobs lost during 2023. It seems like things aren’t going to get better in 2024.