Prosus-owned developer platform Stack Overflow lays off 10% of workforce

Developer focussed platform Stack Overflow recently announced that it will undertake layoffs as it focuses on profitability. Stack Overflow’s CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar said that the Prosus-owned company will cut its workforce by about 10%, or 58 employees.

“Our focus for this fiscal year is profitability and that, along with macroeconomic pressures, led to today’s changes,” he said in a statement published on the company’s website.

“They were also the result of taking a hard look at our strategic priorities for this fiscal year as well as our organizational structure as we invest in the continued growth of Stack Overflow for Teams and pursue agility and flexibility as we launch AI/ML-focused offerings in the months ahead.”


Also read | Startups fire 9,400 employees between January- March, more cuts coming

Founded in 2008 by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky, Stack Overflow is an online community for software developers. The company claims it has over 100 million monthly visitors.

Stack Overflow was acquired by Prosus for $1.8 billion in June 2021. New York-based Stack Overflow operates a Q&A website that is used by software developers and other professionals for improving their coding skills.

Chandrasekar said that as the CEO he takes “full ownership” of this decision and it “weighs heavily” on him. "To those of you affected, I want to extend my deepest gratitude for your contributions to the company and for all of your hard work."

Also read | Layoffs 2023: Tech companies which laid off most number of employees

“Our commitment is to continue to provide our customers with the level of service they expect and to the users of our public platform—the knowledge they’ve been seeking from Stack Overflow for nearly 15 years,” he wrote.

Chandrasekar further said that he will share another blog post on the company’s business and the road ahead next week.
"I appreciate your patience and kindness as we navigate through this difficult time."

Layoffs in 2023: Cognizant, Accenture, Amazon among latest firms to cut jobs amid economic turmoil

As the funding winter continues, startups laid off about 9,400 employees in the January-March period, ET reported previously citing data from recruitment firm Careernet.

While the layoffs are expected to continue, hiring in senior roles have also dropped around 80% in the March quarter compared to the same period last year, according to the data.