Bumble to Cut 30% of Workforce and Refocus on AI

Bumble, the dating app, is undergoing layoffs of 30% of its workforce, equivalent to about 240 employees, due to a large restructuring to regain growth. In a regulatory filing, Bumble stated it expects the layoffs to lead to $40 million in annual savings, with most of the savings going to product and AI innovations. 

As of this statement, Bumble‘s stock has dropped almost 90% since going public in early 2021, with Bumble’s struggle to keep younger users among the growing dissatisfaction with online dating platforms. 

The layoffs will enhance operations and help the company prioritize strategic investment.

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Whitney Wolfe Herd is back as CEO, returning in March 2023 after a two-year break. The CEO said they had to “purge” the issues with Bumble declining and doing a “bad job” quietly. “Watching it fall off the chart from its peak was hard,” Wolfe Herd told The New York Times. 

This is a big moment for Bumble to help rebuild customer trust and build a company while also adding to the growing cohort of intimate matching apps on dating sites.