Are dating apps becoming dinosaurs?
Bumble announced on Tuesday that it would be cutting over 30% of its total global workforce (over 350 employees) during its Q4 2023 and full-year 2023 earnings report.
The shift comes as Gen Z starts to move away from dating apps. A 2023 Statista survey showed that millennials in the U.S. make up 61% of dating app users while Gen Z only accounts for 26% of users.
Still, Bumble had a strong Q4, with revenue coming in at $273.6 million which was up nearly $30 million from the same time last year.
“We are taking significant and decisive actions that ensure our customers remain at the center of everything we do as we relaunch Bumble App, transform our organization and accelerate our product roadmap,” said Lidiane Jones, CEO of Bumble Inc. in a company release. “We believe these actions will strengthen our foundational capabilities and enable us to continue delivering new and engaging user experiences that create healthy and equitable relationships.”
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The company is estimated to spend between $20 million and $25 million on severance, benefits, and other costs for employees who have been let go.
Bumble isn’t the first in the dating app category to begin mass layoffs.
Last year, rival Tinder announced that it would be slashing 8% of its total global workforce, mainly in its recruiting sector.
Bumble was founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd in 2014 in an attempt to be a female-focused dating app where females are required to initiate the conversation once a pair is matched. The company officially went public in 2021.
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In November 2023, Wolfe Herd was replaced by former Slack CEO Lidiane Jones.
Bumble surpassed $1 billion in total revenue for 2023, a 16.4% increase from the year prior. The company was down over 53% year over year as of Thursday afternoon.
