Patreon Lays Off 17% of Workforce and Closes European Offices
Patreon cuts 80 jobs across its Go-to-Market, Operations, Finance, and People teams while shutting down its Berlin and Dublin offices. The company insists the restructuring aims to ensure long-term stability for creators who rely on the platform.
Patreon lays off 17% of its staff, impacting 80 employees across its Go-to-Market, Operations, Finance, and People teams. The creator subscription company also closes its Berlin office and shuts down its Dublin location, though it offers relocation packages to the nine engineers based in Ireland. All affected workers receive at least three months of severance pay, and U.S. employees get COBRA health benefits for the remainder of the year.
These layoffs follow a separate reduction of five security team members last week, but CEO Jack Conte clarifies that the two events stem from different reasons. He explains that the security changes are part of a strategy to distribute security responsibilities across the entire engineering team, emphasizing that Patreon is actually increasing its security investment despite the recent job cuts.
The staffing reductions mark a significant shift from December, when leadership planned to double the company's size by the end of 2022. Conte acknowledges the anxiety these cuts cause for creators who depend on Patreon for sustainable monthly income, but he frames the decision as a necessary step to guarantee the platform remains a reliable monetization tool in a turbulent tech economy.