Unity Software’s headquarters in San Francisco in 2019.
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Unity Software Inc. will reportedly cut about 600 jobs in its third and largest round of layoffs over the past year.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday that San Francisco-based Unity will trim about 8% of its workforce amid renewed recession fears, and plans to close roughly 20 of its 58 offices around the world over the next few years.
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Unity Software Inc., a leading provider of real-time 3D creation tools to game developers, is reportedly planning to lay off up to another 600 employees. This move comes after the company announced a similar round of job cuts in the middle of this year, resulting in the loss of approximately 1,200 jobs.
The news of the planned job cuts was first reported by Bloomberg and later confirmed by the company. Unity Software reportedly told employees in an email that the layoffs were necessary to “better align the company’s resources and investments” with its “strategic roadmap” — with the focus shifting from “commercial efforts” to “more focused and streamlined areas” where the company plans to concentrate its efforts.
Specifically, Unity Software plans to concentrate its focus on development of its core offerings for real-time 3D. These offerings have grown rapidly in popularity in recent years, particularly within video game design. Since its founding in 2005, the company has raised over $600 million in venture capital, and as recently as 2018, Unity boasted a valuation of $2.6 billion.
However, Unity’s financial woes have recently become more apparent, with layoffs first announced in July 2020. This latest round of planned layoffs is expected to affect employees across the company’s global offices, while focusing on “strategic realignments” in areas such as advertising, research, and development.
Though the news of layoffs always comes as a disappointment to affected workers, Unity Software’s management remains committed to “providing our team the support and resources necessary”; this includes giving employees the opportunity to relocate within the company, applying for open roles within the company, and offering a severance package and other support.
Unity Software’s reported decision to lay off another 600 workers serves as a reminder of the tumultuous and unpredictable nature of the tech industry, with affected workers now facing a period of considerable uncertainty ahead. However, with its strategic realignment plan, Unity Software remains hopeful that its core offerings—and its financial stability—will both benefit as a result.
