"Big yikes": Concerned netizens react to Twitch firing over 400 employees citing budget cuts

Within a week of taking over the reins of Twitch as the new CEO, Dan Clancy has announced laying off over 400 people from the company, citing "macroeconomics" in a blog post.

The news of the layoffs has not been well received by most of the community and comes at a time when Amazon, its parent company, is making cutbacks to different sectors under their domain.

Streamers and viewers alike have been dissatisfied with Twitch's recent policies pertaining to revenue splits, and the news of the layoffs has only increased skepticism regarding the platform with tweets like these littered across the internet:

"Hope these people were informed": Twitter concerned regarding 400 Twitch employees set to lose their jobs over layoffs

Emmett Shear's resignation from the post of CEO last week had a mixed response from regular users of the platform. As a founder and long-time top dog at the company, there is a lot of adoration for Shear and his work among streamers and viewers alike. However, his resignation comes at a time when a lot of people are dissatisfied with the company's financial policies.

With YouTube and Kick both offering better financial incentives to streamers, a change in Twitch's upper management was welcomed by some. However, people were quick to realize that Dan Clancy, the former president, was the very person to write a blog post introducing the controversial 50/50 split last year.

Another concern that Twitteratis have over the recent lay-off announcement is about the 400 people who are about to lose their jobs. Many have wondered whether they were informed internally before the information was made public, pointing out how horrible it would be to find out about losing their jobs from an article online.

Some drew attention to the proximity between Shear's resignation and the layoffs:

The overwhelming majority of the replies to the official tweet are of concern for the 400 people to be laid off:

Twitch streamer Sodapoppin talks about the layoffs

OTK co-owner and popular streamer Sodappoppin read out and reacted to the blog post on his stream today and discussed the possibility of employees not knowing who will be laid off in the coming weeks and the stress they must be under. He opined:

When the audience told him that Twitch allegedly had about 1,100 employees, out of which 400 are set to get laid off, Sodapoppin did the math:

Readers should note that the data is not specific but rather an estimate from third-party websites, and they should not take Sodapoppin's assessment of the issue at face value.

About the author

Richik has been specializing in streamer content at Sportskeeda for over 2 years. He also manages a group of writers who craft relevant news and features about content creators on platforms like Twitch, Kick, and Rumble. Prior to Sportskeeda, he interned at The Ken and worked as a reviewer at Blacksof where he fact-checked educational content.

Richik’s love for writing, researching, and archiving, along with his inquisitive nature and longstanding love for video games led him to pursue a career as a gaming journalist. He relies on primary sources for accurate information and ensures that his drafts are proofread, fact-checked, and well-researched.

As a child, Richik spent many a summer vacation playing the 1994 Road Rash with his cousins. Although more of an FPS and open-world fiend now, Richik enjoys single-player RPGs with compelling storytelling, such as The Last of Us franchise, and regularly teams up with his friends to play multiplayer titles like Valorant on PC.

Richik enjoys watching streamer and former esports athlete Shroud, and also finds inspiration in MrBeast's journey to become one of the most well-known content creators worldwide. Interviewing English-Somali YouTuber Sharky, a member of the renowned Beta Squad, was a career highlight for him.

When not writing, Richik likes to read, watch a movie or a game of football.

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