‘Feels like a bad dream’: India-American software engineer writes after being laid off by Spotify

The world's largest music streaming firm, Spotify, revealed that it will be eliminating 600 jobs globally, or 6% of its workforce.

The CEO of the Swedish company, Daniel Ek, said in a memo that he overshot his mark by making investments before the company's revenue rose.

“And for this reason, today, we are reducing our employee base by about 6 per cent across the company. I take full accountability for the moves that got us here,” he said in a memo on Spotify’s website.

Ek  commented on the changing dynamics of the organization, stating that “Over the next several hours, one-on-one conversations will take place with all impacted employees. And while I believe this decision is right for Spotify, I understand that with our historic focus on growth, many of you will view this as a shift in our culture. But as we evolve and grow as a business, so must our way of working while still staying true to our core values.”

Ex- employee Mounika G writes on LinkedIn

Among those let go was Mounika G, an Indian-American software engineer who had worked for the business for more than 1.5 years. She wrote a heartbreaking piece on how difficult it is to not know why you were fired in her LinkedIn profile.

“I don’t think I have the heart to write this yet, yesterday was my last day at Spotify. It feels like a bad dream I should wake up from. I kept waiting for an email saying there has been a mistake. Of all the thoughts/questions, one dominated – Not knowing the reason hit hard,” Mounika G wrote in her LinkedInPost.

However, she also underlined that life goes on and she is running out of time. She has only 60 days to land a new role to stay in the US and to hold my VISA status.

“This picture was my first day at Spotify and I was still in wonder how my journey led me to that place. As the saying goes, the only way is through and I will get through this stronger and more resilient. Looking forward to my next adventure,” she added.

As part of cost-cutting measures, Spotify reportedly terminated 11 original podcasts produced in-house in October of last year. More recently, the firm has started to lay off employees.

Less than 5% of the company's employees who worked on the initial podcasts were fired or reassigned to new shows.