Dropbox lays off 16% of staff to refocus on AI, as sales growth slows

In a move to refocus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation, Dropbox has announced that it will be laying off 16% of its staff. This news comes as the company’s sales growth slows in an increasingly competitive market.
The layoffs are expected to affect around 480 employees from offices across the globe, including San Francisco, Seattle, New York City and Dublin. The majority of those affected are said to be working in sales and customer success roles.
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston commented on the decision saying: “We need to ensure our resources are aligned with our long-term opportunities… We believe these changes will enable us to better serve our customers while also allowing us to invest more heavily in product innovation as we continue building toward a smarter workspace for all teams.”
This announcement follows reports earlier this year that Dropbox had been struggling financially due to increasing competition from rivals such as Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. In order for them remain competitive they have decided focus their efforts on AI technology which could help them stand out from other cloud storage providers by offering automated services such as document scanning or facial recognition software.
Houston added: “As part of this effort, we’re investing heavily in artificial intelligence capabilities that can automate mundane tasks so people can focus on higher value work… We believe these investments will drive greater efficiency over time — enabling us to do more with less — while also creating new opportunities for collaboration within Dropbox.”
The company is hoping that by making these changes now they can position themselves well for future growth when the economy recovers from its current downturn caused by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. They plan use any savings generated through the layoffs reinvest into developing their AI technologies further so they can stay ahead of their competitors going forward.
Dropbox lays off 16% of staff to refocus on AI, as sales growth slows | Dropbox lays off 16% of staff to refocus on AI, as sales growth slows| Business | Computerworld