News

Spotify Adds To Big Tech Layoffs With Highest Job Cuts Since 2000

The popular music streaming company has seen its share price fall by nearly half over the past 12 months.

Published

3 years ago

January 24, 2023

Nour Nasir

spotify adds to big tech layoffs with highest job cuts since 2000

Getty Images

Swedish music streaming giant, Spotify, is set to cut 6% of its entire workforce — a move which will amount to laying off around 600 employees.

The cuts come as part of efforts to increase efficiencies in a “challenging macro environment”, the tech company announced on Monday, January 23rd. Spotify reported net losses of $181 million in the third quarter of 2022, compared with a $2 million profit the year before, with share prices falling by a monumental 49% in a single year.

Spotify was forced to take the decision after soaring costs and growing operational expenditure began to rapidly outpace revenue generation, and followed the firing of 38 staff from Gimlet Media and Parcast podcast studios in October, which are also owned by the Swedish streaming service.

“In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth,” admitted chief executive Daniel Ek. “That would have been unsustainable long-term in any climate, but with a challenging macro environment, it would be even more difficult to close the gap”.

Also Read: The Best Video Streaming Services In The Middle East

Ek went on to confirm that chief content officer Dawn Ostroff would also be leaving the company, whose workforce numbered 9,800 employees in mid-2022.

A total of 97,171 jobs were axed in the technology sector in 2022, a 649% increase over 2021 and the highest since the fateful dot-com crash of the early 2000s. Spotify’s layoffs mirror those of other corporations in the technology sector, including Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google’s Alphabet. Part of those cuts can be explained by the extra hires required during the height of the Covid pandemic, though rising interest rates and growing fears of a recession are also influencing the somber atmosphere.

News

Lebanon Ministers Meet Visa Over National Digital Payment Platform

Finance and technology ministers say a comparative study and roadmap will follow before any decision on adopting a model.

Published

1 day ago

May 5, 2026

Joanna Melki

lebanon ministers meet visa over national digital payment platform

Lebanon’s finance and technology ministers met representatives from Visa last week to discuss a proposed unified national digital payment platform for government services, according to a readout from the Ministry of Finance.

The meeting brought together Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Shehadeh, a Visa delegation, and experts from both ministries. Discussion focused on whether Lebanon could establish a single platform through which citizens and institutions would pay taxes, fees, fines and other official transactions electronically, using mobile phones and other digital channels.

The Visa delegation presented examples from countries that have adopted unified government payment platforms, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Estonia and Jordan. According to the readout, the examples were presented as having increased collection rates and expanded financial inclusion.

Talks covered settlement mechanisms, direct transfer to the treasury account, financial reconciliation, risk management, cybersecurity, fees, and an operational model that would involve the private sector. The parties agreed to continue technical and institutional consultations, prepare a comparative study, and develop an implementation roadmap before any decision on adopting a model for Lebanon.

Jaber said the Ministry of Finance had already enabled citizens to pay using credit cards and e-wallets through transfer companies, but described the proposed platform as a further step. He framed the development of electronic payment and collection systems as a priority within the ministry’s modernization plan.

Also Read: Deezer Says AI Tracks Now Make Up 44% Of Uploads

Shehadeh outlined the citizen-facing concept as a single mobile application through which users could settle obligations to ministries, government institutions and other bodies.

“The idea, in short, is that any citizen downloads an application on their mobile phone, through which they can pay all service obligations for all ministries, government institutions, or those owned by the Lebanese state, and others as well, as the platform is not limited only to state institutions,” he said.

Shehadeh added that the platform would not displace banks and money transfer companies that currently provide collection services to the state, calling it complementary to their work.