SAN FRANCISCO (CelebrityAccess) — Clubhouse, a social networking app focused on audio hangouts that took off in the early days of the pandemic, announced plans for deep staffing cuts as it works to stay relevant.
The app, which launched in early 2020, seemed like a perfect fit for the era of social distancing and lockdowns. Its popularity after launch was enough that the dominant players in the social media world such as Facebook and Twitter quickly announced similar products.
Now, three years later, Clubhouse appears to be struggling to find a niche and the company’s founders, Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, are attempting to ‘reset’ the venture. In an internal letter obtained by The Verge, Davison and Seth announced plans to cut the company’s staff by more than 50% and that the decision was “absolutely necessary” for the company.
“Today we announced that we’re scaling back our org by over 50% and saying goodbye to many talented, dedicated teammates in the process. We’re deeply sorry to be doing this, and we would not be making this change if we didn’t feel it was absolutely necessary,” Paul Davison and Rohan Seth said in the employee letter, according to The Verge.
In the letter, the company’s founders conceded that their business model has been impacted by the post-COVID recovery.
“Clubhouse was designed to be a place where you could come together with friends, meet their friends and talk. It works really well when your friends are on the product and you have the time to meet up. Millions of people in our core community know this. But as the world has opened up post-Covid, it’s become harder for many people to find their friends on Clubhouse and to fit long conversations into their daily lives. To find its role in the world, the product needs to evolve. This requires a period of change,” the letter stated.
The company also teased plans for a Clubhouse 2.0 but did not provide details for the future of the product.
