Ava Labs cuts 12% of staff to ‘reallocate resources’ toward expansion
Ava Labs, the team behind the Avalanche blockchain, has confirmed it laid off 12% of its employees in a recent wave of staff cuts, citing the need to reallocate its resources.
The firm’s founder and CEO, Emin Gün Sirer, confirmed the news on Nov. 7 after several former Ava Labs employees announced on X (formerly Twitter) they had been laid off.
“This reduction in force affected 12% of Ava Labs, and allows us to reallocate resources to double down on the growth of our firm and the Avalanche ecosystem,” Gün Sirer said.
Gün Sirer acknowledged that bear markets can be tough to navigate, but he iterated that Ava Labs is well-positioned with a significant runway and resources at its disposal.
Today we parted ways with some of our Ava Labs team members. We are no longer a 12 person startup, but we strive to capture the speed and energy of a small, nimble team.
This reduction in force affected 12% of Ava Labs, and allows us to reallocate resources to double down on the…
— Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) November 7, 2023
Ava Labs has 335 employees, according to LinkedIn, which suggests around 40 people were impacted.
Ava Labs vice president of growth and strategy Garrison Yang hinted that many of the layoffs came from the firm’s marketing team.
In an Oct. 6 post on X, former game growth marketing team member Zach Manafort was among them, revealing he was laid off. His departure comes despite being active in the Avalanche community since 2020.
It looks like my time at @AvaLabs has come to its end. Despite the recent layoffs, my time here has been filled with invaluable experiences and growth.
As I transition forward, I am open to explore opportunities in marketing or operations.
My passion for these fields combined…
— Trading Aloha (@TradingAloha) November 6, 2023
The layoffs came as a surprise to Manafort, who thought “things were just getting started.”
Brandon Suzuki, who also previously worked in Ava Labs’ marketing unit, also confirmed that he was laid off on Oct. 6.
Unfortuantely, I was let go from @AvaLabs this morning. If anyone has resources for web3 marketers, please let me know!
— Brandon Suzuki (@BrandonSuzuki_) November 6, 2023
The most recent round of layoffs comes only days after a 50% staff cut by nonfungible token marketplace OpenSea on Nov. 3.
Neil Dundon, founder of CryptoRecruit, told Cointelegraph that job openings are still hard to come by in the crypto industry despite a recent uptick in the crypto market capitalization.
“The crypto market is still very tough, unfortunately, right now. Money is tight. VC has dried up.”
Dundon said there need to be more signs pointing to a bull market before there’s any meaningful uptick in hiring again.
“This is how it has always behaved, and it’s no different this time around.”
On the other hand, Kevin Gibson, founder of Proof of Search, and Daniel Adler, founder of Cryptocurrency Jobs, both told Cointelegraph that they have seen a slight increase in hiring over the last few weeks.
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Gibson attributed this to cryptocurrency firms acting under the impression that they may lose out on the talent pool when market conditions improve in 2024. He added:
“It is still an employer’s market, so we are encouraging companies to take advantage of this to keep building, as it will be very different in 2024.”
Gibson noted that some of these positions were only two-to-three-day-per-week roles as opposed to full-time positions.
Adler shared a similar sentiment:
“As we’re approaching the end of the year, teams are doing a final hiring push and following through on their hiring plans and roadmap.”
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