The coronavirus pandemic has had serious economic impacts across the world, and the photography industry is starting to see the effects, with two companies announcing layoffs in an attempt to stop the financial hemorrhaging.
The first company, GoPro, announced that they will be laying off over 200 employees, representing over 20% of its current workforce. The company has been shrinking substantially in recent years, reducing its size from approximately 1,500 employees at the end of 2016 to a little over 900 by the end of 2019, with this most current round of layoffs bringing the total down to about 700. In addition, the company will be pulling its products from retailers eventually and moving toward a direct sales model. Founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman and the company's board will also be forgoing any salary for the remainder of 2020.
VSCO also announced layoffs of 45 employees, citing the "overnight" shift in the economic outlook, bringing their total workforce to about 100 people. The company is providing employees with seven weeks of severance pay and at least two months of health coverage.
It's an unfortunate consequence of the current situation across the world, and sadly, it would not be surprising to hear more such announcements in the near future.
GoPro's situation might be understandable, since they have a physical product that doesn't have demand right now due to the lockdowns. But VSCO??? They can all work remotely and their product is fully digital. If anything they could expand their game.
In the case of VSCO, they may have had to lay off due to other reasons (ie lack of sales). With the mass layoffs everywhere combined with uncertainty when things will get back to "normal", many of us are rethinking how we spend our money.
Personally, my wife and I are still working, but in light of what going on, we're not spending like we used to - at least in things that are not absolutely unnecessary.
It is that kind of situation that won't even save virtual companies from feeling the pinch financially.