Snap Cuts 1,000 Jobs and 300 Open Roles, Citing AI-Enabled Efficiency and Activist Investor Pressure
The 16 percent reduction in Snap's global workforce is expected to save more than $500 million annually by the second half of 2026, as AI now generates more than 65 percent of new code at the company.
Snap announced on April 15 that it would lay off approximately 1,000 full-time employees, representing about 16 percent of its global workforce, and close more than 300 open positions. CEO Evan Spiegel disclosed the decision in a memo made public through an SEC filing.
The company had approximately 5,261 full-time employees as of December 2025. Snap expects to incur between $95 million and $130 million in charges related to the cuts, primarily in the second quarter.
Spiegel tied the restructuring explicitly to advances in artificial intelligence. He wrote that AI now enables teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support the company's community, partners, and advertisers.
Snap said that AI already accounts for more than 65 percent of new code generation internally, with specialized teams and AI agents handling tasks that previously required larger engineering headcounts. Spiegel noted that small squads leveraging AI tools had already driven meaningful progress on Snapchat Plus, enhanced ad platform performance, and infrastructure efficiency improvements.
The layoffs followed pressure from Irenic Capital Management, an activist investor holding approximately 2.5 percent of Snap, which had urged the company to refine its portfolio and cut costs. Irenic had recommended Snap consider divesting or discontinuing its augmented reality glasses division, Specs, which has consumed more than $3 billion in investment.
The restructuring is expected to reduce Snap's annualized cost base by more than $500 million by the second half of 2026, establishing what Spiegel called a clearer path to net-income profitability.
US employees are receiving four months of severance pay along with healthcare coverage, equity vesting, and career transition support. Snap's stock rose approximately 5.8 percent on the day of the announcement as investors welcomed the cost-reduction plan, even as the shares remained down about 31 percent year-to-date.
Read the original reporting at TechCrunch.
