Zynga, the company behind social games like Farmville and Cityville, have been hit hard recently in terms of financial loss. There is a projected net loss of nearly $40,000,000.
The worst part of all of this is the fact that 520 employees have been laid off from the company. That is 18% of the total employee count for a large, previously successful company.
Not only are these employees getting laid off, the company is closing down three of its studios. The branches in LA, Dallas, and New York are all being shut down.
Mark Pincus, the CEO and founder of Zynga, shared with Polygon the same memo he sent out company wide regarding the layoffs. He said that every employee that was being laid off was going to be taken care of with a generous severance package since this series of lay offs was done “proactively and from a position of financial strength.”
Hopefully these employees are well taken care of. It seems a bit cruel to lay off so many if you’re still able to claim it’s done proactively. Regardless of any/all of Zynga’s controversies (especially the scam advertisements), it’s sad to see so many people lose their jobs. I hope that they find rewarding work elsewhere and soon.
