As a species, humans have this weird tendency to compartmentalise our achievements and challenges into calendar years. We do it for movies, we do it for albums, we do it for games. And we especially do it for trends. We like to say something was "The Year Of", like how 2016 was "The Year Famous People Died". Anyone reading this website probably thinks 2023 was "The Year Everyone Got Laid Off", and it definitely was, but if you think that trend was confined to last year then oof, you have got a rough 12 months ahead of you.
All of which is to say that today, just eight days into the new year, Bloomberg is reporting that Unity Software--the company behind Unity, one of the world's most popular video game engines--is going to "reduce its workforce by 25%, eliminating about 1,800 jobs".
In June 2022 around 200 Unity staff were let go. Then in January 2023 a further 300 were laid off. In May 2023 more cuts trimmed 8% of Unity's staff, and further "reductions" in November--at the same time CEO John Riccitiello stepped down after a hugely controversial proposal to change to Unity's pricing--shed another 3.8%. Combined with the 1800 layoffs reported today, that will bring the total number of workers affected in the last 18 months to around 3500.
But don't worry. As terrible as this news will be to the thousands of people and families affected, shares in Unity are up 4.8% today, having gained 43% throughout 2023. Which sounds counter-intuitive, but remember: the layoffs aren't the result, they're the point.
