Twilio lays off more than 10 percent of staff for the second time in six months

Cloud communications company Twilio is going through a mass layoff for the second time in a year. This time, the company is cutting 17 percent of jobs, 6 percentage points more than in September.

CEO Jeff Lawson says that the company now has a strong market position and “a lot” of cash in hand, but that this is not enough for the next phase of the company. “We need to spend less, streamline the business and become more efficient.” That is why the company is going to work with two new business lines: Communications and Data & Applications.

The company says it has too many people, especially in the Communications branch. It is not immediately clear how many people will have to leave. According to CNBC the company had 8992 employees in September, so about 1500 employees now have to go.

Twilio also carried out a major round of layoffs in September, with 11 percent of its staff gone. The company would have grown too fast in the years before. Lawson says the new round of layoffs is based on the company’s new structure. “Both the reorganization and layoffs increase our ability to grow bigger and generate more profit. Both points are necessary in this new situation.”

The company will also cut and phase out certain employee benefits. In addition, Twilio wants to close some offices, because employees now work from home more often. Travel budgets will be increased, so that employees can see each other more often. Twilio has been around since 2008 and is known, among other things, for two-step verification service Authy.