Creator platform Patreon slashes 20% of jobs as CEO cites market shifts

Patreon is laying off about 20% of its workforce, or 93 employees, as the creator-membership platform restructures its operations amid the growing impact of artificial intelligence on the technology industry.

Chief Executive Jack Conte announced the job cuts in a memo to employees, saying the company needed to reduce costs to "remain a stable, dependable rock for our creators" after the market had undergone "profound change over the past six months."

The layoffs were also disclosed in a public note addressed to creators using the platform.

"Today will be hard for so many people," Conte wrote, acknowledging the impact on affected employees.

Conte said the restructuring was driven by changing market conditions rather than weakness in the company's business.

"Nothing about our core business has changed — it remains strong and consistent," he wrote.

Addressing speculation around artificial intelligence, Conte said AI had fundamentally changed the technology industry and the way companies build products and operate, but stressed it was not replacing human creativity.

"To be clear about the impact of AI on today's decision: we are not making the above changes because we believe AI replaces humans," Conte said.

“AI has fundamentally transformed the tech industry, though, including how we work, how we build products, how we communicate, and more. That does have an impact on how we operate and organize,” he added

Affected employees will receive 16 weeks of pay, an additional week of pay for every full year worked, healthcare coverage through the end of the year for eligible employees and a USD 1,500 stipend to replace their company laptops, according to the memo.

The company said it would also flatten its organisational structure, refocus teams on priority areas and change the way it operates to improve agility.

Conte said Patreon continued to post steady growth across its core business.

More than 300,000 creators in nearly every country earn money through the platform, with creators collectively generating billions of dollars annually, he said.

The San Francisco-based company said its push to become a media and community network was also gaining traction.

According to Conte, Patreon now sends about 1.5 million new members to creators each month, creators have added roughly 200 million free memberships over the past three years, and memberships attributed to its feed have increased more than five-fold since the network's launch.