Austin-based dating app Bumble laying off about 30% of its workforce

Austin-based dating app Bumble Inc. is cutting roughly 30% of its workforce.

In a regulatory filing Wednesday, the company announced that the layoffs would affect 240 employees, saving about $40 million annually. However, Bumble said it plans to spend up to $18 million on severance packages and benefits for those impacted.

"Bumble, like the online dating industry itself, is at an inflection point. In recent months, we’ve been rebuilding – returning to what makes us trusted, unique, and deeply human. But intentional rebuilding requires hard decisions. Today, we are marking one of the most difficult: we are reducing the size of our team," founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said in a letter to employees, which was included in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

As of now, it is unclear how many of Bumble's Austin employees have been impacted by the layoffs.

The layoffs come just five months have Wolfe Herd returned to her role as CEO, having taken over a year away from the company.

Bumble previously laid off about 350 employees in February 2024 as part of a restructuring plan.

"The reality is, we need to take decisive action to restructure to build a company that’s resilient, intentional, and ready for the next decade. We’ve reset our strategy, and are going back to a start-up mentality – rooted in an ownership mindset and team structures designed for faster, more meaningful execution," Wolfe Herd said in the letter.

Bumble was founded in 2014 by Wolfe Herd shortly after her departure from Tinder. Since going public in 2021, the company's stock has plummeted, with its value down 90%. Bumble recently reported an 8% decline in first-quarter revenue, dropping to $201.8 million from $215.8 million during the same period last year. However, Bumble shares surged 25% on Wednesday following the announcement of layoffs.

The online dating industry is grappling with challenges as younger generations move away from dating apps. Match Group, the owner of Hinge and Tinder, reduced its workforce by 13% in May. In contrast, Grindr is defying the trend, with its shares surging over 115% in the past year.

To adapt, dating app companies are leveraging artificial intelligence to create stronger matches and expanding into friendship-based connections.

"Dating apps don’t work like social networks, where more people and content automatically makes the product better," Wolfe Herd said on Bumble's quarterly investors call in May. "What we learned is that just adding more profiles does not guarantee better matches. In fact, it can lead to the opposite: more mismatches, more fake or low-quality profiles, and a frustrating experience."