Dropbox to cut workforce by 16%, hire new talent for AI-powered products
27/04/2023 15:16
April 27 (Reuters) - Cloud storage provider Dropbox Inc
DBX.O said on Thursday it would reduce its global workforce by
16% to cut costs amid slowing cloud growth, and instead hire new
talent to build its AI offerings.
San Francisco, California-based Dropbox is the latest tech
company to tap AI as Big Tech players from Microsoft Corp
MSFT.O to Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc META.O battle
for a slice of the fast-growing market with new products and
offerings.
Dropbox's chief executive officer, Drew Houston, said the
company's core cloud business growth was slowing as challenges
from the economic downturn put pressure on customers, making
some of its profitable investments no longer sustainable.
At the end of 2022, the company had 3,118 full-time
employees, of which 2,583 were located in the United States.
The company said it had shifted some employees from one team
to another to focus on its AI projects, but would need more
talent with a different mix of skill sets, particularly in AI
and early-stage product development.
"We've been bringing in great talent in these areas over the
last couple years and we'll need even more," Houston said in a
memo to staff.
"The AI era of computing has finally arrived ... The
opportunity in front of us is greater than ever, but so is our
need to act with urgency to seize it."
Houston is also on the board of Meta Platforms, which said
on Wednesday AI was helping it boost traffic to Facebook and
Instagram and earn more in ad sales.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
((Nivedita.Balu@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @niveditabalu;))