- Polygon Labs has announced a second round of job cuts.
- The firm maintains that the decision is not due to financial constraints.
- The decision has not been met with the usual skepticism from the crypto community.
Despite the recent crypto market recovery, crypto job cuts observed during the bear market may not be over as crypto firms continue to streamline operations. In the latest instance, Polygon Labs, a firm focused on providing Ethereum scaling solutions, has announced a fresh round of layoffs less than a year after it cut 100 jobs.
A Move to Focus Efforts in a Single Direction?
In a blog post on Thursday, February 1, Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron announced that the firm was engaging in its second round of layoffs in less than a year. Per the post, the move would see the firm drop 19% of its current workforce or about 60 persons.
Preemptly opposing speculation that could arise from the move, Polygon Labs asserted that the decision was born from a desire to focus on a single narrative of building a network of aggregated blockchains and not the result of financial constraints.
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"Right-sizing for the sake of enhanced performance, rather than for financial reasons, may seem unconventional. The reality is that achieving our mission often demands challenging decisions, and while difficult, the Founders and I agree that we must move forward in a thoughtful way that gives us the greatest chance to execute successfully," Boiron wrote.
Per the announcement, affected employees would receive two months of severance pay and health benefits. At the same time, the firm disclosed that it would be shifting away from geo-pay models and increasing the remaining staff salaries by 15% for old members and 5% for new employees.
In addition to the recent layoffs, Polygon Labs also revealed that it intended to spin off its Venture Capital and Polygon ID team as stand-alone companies in the coming months.
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While crypto job cuts are typically viewed through a veneer of skepticism and concern in the crypto space, crypto community members appear to have taken the move from Polygon Labs in stride, even throwing their weight behind it.
“The Right Move”
Among those to show support for the recent downsizing by Polygon Labs was Cinneamhain Ventures Partner Adam Cochran. The vocal crypto commentator hailed the layoffs as “the right move.”
"Polygon has been a hodgepodge of products that don't feel like a unified direction. They've got real potential with their CDK to be a leading player in an L3/appchain space, but it's going to take remarkable hyperfocus as its all about ease of UX in deploy," he added.
At the time of writing, some of Polygon Labs’ competitors, including Matter Labs and Offchain Labs, have expressed interest in taking on some of the affected employees.
On the Flipside
- The firm still boasts a staff list of about 300 persons.
- Polygon Labs’ February 2023 round of layoffs had raised concerns about the company’s spending.
Why This Matters
The recent round of layoffs by Polygon Labs suggests that crypto job cuts may continue despite the crypto market recovery in 2023.
Read this for more on Polygon’s last job cuts:
Polygon Layoffs Raise Questions: What Happened to $200M in Funding?
Are you curious why crypto apps keep disappearing from the Apple App Store? See some possible reasons here:
Why Do Crypto Apps Keep Disappearing From the Apple Store?
