Snap Inc, the creators and owners of SnapChat, announced that it would layoff around 10% of its global workforce, equating to 528 employees.

The cuts come just before Snap is set to release its fourth quarter results, after having reported a £294m loss in the previous 2023 quarter.

“In order to best position our business to execute on our highest priorities, and to ensure we have the capacity to invest incrementally to support our growth over time, we have made the difficult decision to restructure our team,” the social media company said in a statement.

So far, Snap has resisted buyouts from other large social media conglomerates, but has struggled to compete with Meta and the seminal rise of TikTok.

Further, SnapChat’s platform model has made it more difficult to directly turn into revenue – targeted advertising is not as applicable to the photo messaging service.

After their downturn in quarter three, Snap could be trying to keep investors on their side, especially after Meta showed an uptick in ad revenue last year.

Snap Shares fell 4%, according to Reuters, to $16.38 (£13.08).

Snap is joining a slew of tech companies that have cut jobs already in 2024, following the massive tech layoffs seen throughout 2023.

Already, nearly 32,000 jobs in the tech sector were cut just since the start of 2024 according to Layoffs.fyi.

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The tech sector has seen increasing turbulence as companies realign their priorities to AI advancement and automation threaten the stability of workers.

Snap has attempted forays into AI, and introduced an AI chatbot that can respond to user Snapchats.

The company also ventured into augmented reality, but closed this division after not finding an interest on the market in 2023.