If you use the news app SmartNews, you might have noticed some troubling news. On December 28th the popular news aggregation app, SmartNews has announced the layoff of 40% of its staff in both the United States and China, with future reductions planned in Japan.
SmartNews is a news app developed by a Japanese start-up organization called SmartNews Inc. It was founded in 2013 and quickly became a massive player in the global news industry. It curates news from all across the world, and it’s one of the most popular news platforms in the world.
The reason behind the major lay offs, according to SmartNews’s CEO, Kaisei Hamamoto, is due to internal struggles. The company has reportedly been experiencing financial difficulties that have forced it to make major changes, including the layoff of 40% of its staff in the US and China. The exact reason for the financial difficulties has yet to be determined and the company didn’t provide further comment on the matter.
The company said that the cuts are necessary, “as they are unavoidable in order to ensure the growth, resilience and profitability of the company”. SmartNews also revealed that it will be making further reductions in Japan in the coming weeks, with an announcement expected soon.
The news of the drastic cutbacks in staff has been met with a lot of criticism from SmartNews users, with many expressing their dismay and disappointment. Users are afraid that the decreased staff might lead to a dip in the quality of service that the app offers.
Still, it remains to be seen how the layoffs will affect the company’s performance in the future. It’s clear that SmartNews is going through a difficult period, and the only thing the users can do is wait and see what the company comes up with to make sure that the quality of its services doesn’t suffer.
