Match Group Fires 200 Employees Following Slowing Dating App Growth

Tinder, one of Match Group's flagship dating apps. (photo: Twitter @tinder)

JAKARTA - Match Group Inc on Wednesday, February 1 joined a list of US companies continuing to cut jobs or lay off employees to control costs after announcing plans to lay off about 8% of its workforce, or around 200 employees. This is because spending on his dating app is now steadily slowing down.

The company provided a sluggish quarterly earnings forecast the day before that was caused by a struggling economy, a stronger dollar, and "significantly" poor product execution on Tinder. Product delays have also hit its Hinge app at a time when competition is increasing from rival Bumble Inc.

"The layoffs mainly apply to areas such as recruiting," the company said in an email. Cuts have taken place in the United States and are being implemented in other countries.

Match incurred about $3 million in severance and similar fees during the fourth quarter and said it expects about $6 million in additional costs in 2023. It says the move will help boost margins in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, Texas-based Match shares fell 7.7%.

The layoffs come as other technology companies from Microsoft Corp to Amazon.com Inc are losing tens of thousands of jobs to prepare for a possible recession.

"In addition to the cuts, we expect Match to place greater emphasis on marketing its Tinder and Hinge brands, a core area of ​​growth for 2023," said CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino.

Match, which relies on word of mouth advertising, said Tinder would launch its first global marketing campaign this quarter to improve brand perception.

According to Refinitiv data, they expect first-quarter revenue to be between $790 million and $800 million, lower than analyst estimates of $817.3 million. The company also reported its first-ever quarterly revenue decline.