Plex lays off 20% of its workforce
Plex lays off 20% of its workforce
Plex, the free streaming app, laid off approximately 20% of its staff. The company reportedly blames a slowdown in the advertising market.
Plex, the free streaming app, laid off approximately 20% of its staff, TechCrunch has learned, which will affect all departments, including the Personal Media teams.
“This is by far the hardest decision we’ve had to make at Plex,” CEO Keith Valory said in a statement. “These are all wonderful people, great colleagues, and good friends. But we believe it is the right thing for the long-term health and stability of Plex.”
The streaming app gives users a single destination to upload and organize content (video, audio and photos) from their own server while also allowing them to stream it via mobile app, smart TV or desktop.
In recent years, however, Plex has invested in free, ad-supported streaming (FAST) and live TV offerings. The FAST market has become saturated as many companies have entered the space. Plus, the overall advertising industry has taken a hit, making it harder for companies to earn enough revenue.
Valory noted in his statement that the company was significantly impacted by the slowdown. “While we adjusted our business plan last year after the shift in equity markets to get us back on a path to profitability without having to cut personnel expenses, the downturn in the ad market in Q2 put significantly more pressure on our business and ultimately it became clear that we would need to take additional measures in order to maintain a confident path to profitability within the next 18 months,” he said.
He added that the company is still expected to see 30% growth this year.
According to a Slack message from Valory, obtained by The Verge, which first reported the layoffs, Valory noted that 37 employees would be impacted.
Additionally, it seems that Plex may have had another round of layoffs earlier this year. Five months ago, a former account executive posted on LinkedIn that they were “affected by company layoffs.”
As of January, the company had 175 employees, and its revenue was in the double-digit millions.
Updated 6/29/23 at 12:10 p.m. ET with a statement from CEO.
I used Plex for years, and it is the superior product (if you pay) compared to Open Source alternatives. However, after seeing Plex's recent incentive pivots and looking for investors I jumped shipped to Jellyfin. The thermometor of enshittification is indicating that Plex is on its way out.
Folks who haven't looked at alternatives yet, do so now.
I'm honestly surprised that Plex has revenue in the "double-digit millions"
I hated using Plex. They make you suffer unless you pay way too much for what the service is worth. Jellyfin has been a far more pleasant experience.
Whew I'm glad I just started up my jellyfin server!
Great, let them burn. I am a plexpass lifetime sub, but switched to Jelly. Opensource for the win.
Well, it's pretty unsurprising considering all companies are doing the same.
I've given a chance to Jellyfin but it's really frustating how it simply refused to play video files without any descriptive error logs. I think it mostly doesn't work properly on HEVC files (I think Edge is the only browser that properly supports x265) and my Android TV also doesn't play the damn thing.
Also adding that video files from the same release (which assumed are the same encoder), they either work perfectly or just refuse to work :(
I do not pay for Plex but I considered in the past getting a lifetime sub x)
I too cancelled my Plex pass about 6mo ago after a colleague introduced me to JellyFin. I imagine the huge hit ISPs have had on tracking torrent downloads is also curtailing their customer base. (Along with many people abandoning pirating and just paying for the convenience of various streaming services).
Plex is dead
How is it making double digit millions? Through deals with companies and plex passes?
