What you need to know
- Mozilla recently announced its decision to lay off 30% of its workforce.
- The Firefox maker also closed down critical divisions, including advocacy and global programs divisions.
- The company indicated that fighting for a free and open internet is still part of its core mission.
In case you missed it, Mozilla recently laid off 30% of its workforce due to a “relentless onslaught of change.” Mozilla’s VP of Global Communications, Brandon Borrman, confirmed the layoffs while highlighting the company’s plan to reorganize its teams to bolster agility and impact, forging toward an “open and equitable technical future.” TechCrunch reports the company had approximately 120 employees before the recent layoffs.
While speaking to TechCrunch, Borrman indicated:
“The Mozilla Foundation is reorganizing teams to increase agility and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and equitable technical future for us all. That unfortunately means ending some of the work we have historically pursued and eliminating associated roles to bring more focus going forward.”
In addition to the layoffs, the Mozilla Foundation has shut down critical divisions within the company, including its advocacy and global programs divisions. While the divisions are no more, Mozilla’s VP of Global Communications confirmed that “fighting for a free and open internet” will remain a part of the company’s mission (via The Verge).
As you may know, this announcement marks the second round of layoffs to hit the Firefox maker this year. In February, the company laid off approximately 60 employees, citing a “strategic correction” that would include scaling down its work on a Mastodon instance. It also closed shop on its virtual 3D platform and channeled its focus toward Firefox and generative AI advances.
The highlighted changes were announced internally by Nabiha Syed, Mozilla’s Executive Director, on October 30 via email. “Navigating this topsy-turvy, distracting time requires laser focus — and sometimes saying goodbye to the excellent work that has gotten us this far because it won’t get us to the next peak,” indicated Syed. The executive further indicated that the changes will create a “unified, powerful narrative from the foundation and that their mission at Mozilla was more high-stakes than ever.”
