April 15 (Reuters) - Snap said on Wednesday it would lay off about 1,000 employees, including 16% of its full-time staff, weeks after activist investor Irenic Capital Management pushed the Snapchat parent to optimize its portfolio and improve performance.
The company would also close more than 300 open roles, Snap said, adding that it expects to reduce its annualized expenses by more than $500 million by the second half of this year through the measures.
Shares of the social media company rose more
than 5% in premarket trading. The stock has fallen about 31% so far this year.
Smaller social media platforms like Snap and Pinterest are more at risk of budget cuts from large advertisers amid geopolitical uncertainty, as marketers prefer players like Meta and Google for their larger user base.
Snap, which joins a growing list of companies announcing job cuts in the tech industry, had about 5,261 full-time employees as of December 2025.
The social media firm expects $95 million to $130 million in charges, mostly for severance and related costs. It expects the majority of the costs to be incurred in the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing.
The company has been pouring resources into its independent subsidiary, Specs, for augmented reality smart glasses, and is gearing up to launch the product for consumers this year. But its bigger rival, Meta, already leads the market.
Irenic Capital Management, with an economic interest of about 2.5% in Snap, urged the company to spin off or shut down Specs.
The activist investor said the business has absorbed more than $3.5 billion in investment and is burning roughly $500 million in cash annually, while also recommending the company pursue broader cost cuts, including through layoffs.
CEO Evan Spiegel had said last year Snap was in a "crucible moment" after posting slowing quarterly revenue growth. He outlined his ambition to make direct revenue "a durable multi-billion-dollar growth driver for Snap."
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
