Whitney Wolfe Herd, chief executive of dating app Bumble, accused staff of “freaking out” and “overreacting” after telling employees on a company-wide call this week that its London office would bear the brunt of large-scale layoffs announced last week, the Financial Times reported.
Herd told staff on the call that some 160 jobs would be eliminated in London out of 240 planned cuts, accounting for about 30 percent of Bumble’s total staff, according to the report.
The cuts represent a significant shift for Bumble, which currently has 70 percent of its staff in London as part of a previous international expansion strategy.
‘Be adults’
Like other dating apps Bumble has seen falling revenue in recent years and is drastically cutting staff as it reorganises its strategy to draw in new users.
Herd said the “centre of gravity” of the company would move to the US where the “talent pool is right now”, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the call.
“London’s not the first choice, that’s the frank reality,” she reportedly said.
She said that while the UK office would not be closed, it would no longer be “London first”, adding that global expansion “hadn’t delivered” for Bumble, according to the report.
Meanwhile Austin, Texas-based Bumble plans to open a Silicon Valley office to take advantage of AI talent.
When staff responded with thumbs-down emojis she reportedly turned critical and accused employees of overreacting.
“I see a lot of freaking-out emojis, y’all need to calm down,” she said. “This is being taken out of context. I like London and I think everyone is overreacting to this, candidly… Everyone’s going to have to be adults in dealing with this.”
Turnaround plans
She suggested all staff take the rest of the week off following the call, the paper said.
Bumble said in a statement that it is deepening its presence in the US but remains committed to investing in its London team as part of developing its global presence.
Herd, who founded Bumble, left the company in 2023 but returned as chief executive in March.
Competitors such as Match Group, which operates the Tinder and Hinge apps, have also laid off large proportions of staff in recent weeks.
Match Group said in May it would cut 13 percent of staff, or about 325 people.