SiriusXM to Lay Off 160 Employees, About 3% of Workforce

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor SiriusXM is eliminating about 160 jobs, a move to cut expenses that represents a layoff affecting just under 3% of the satellite radio and audio streamer’s workforce.

Jennifer Witz, CEO of SiriusXM, announced the layoffs in a memo to staff Monday. The cutbacks come after SiriusXM in March 2023 announced it was laying off 475 staffers, about 8% of its headcount at the time. “To continue on our path to future subscriber growth and sustain our company’s success as the competitive landscape evolves, it’s imperative that we become even more efficient, agile and flexible,” Witz wrote in the memo. “Therefore, today we are making several organizational changes, including the difficult decision to eliminate certain roles, which will allow us to move faster and collaborate more effectively in support of our long-term objectives.” Witz continued, “From uniting teams and better aligning initiatives, to investing in new technologies that will power our transformation, we are focused on increasing efficiencies and redeploying resources to support the strategic priorities of our business.” For the fourth quarter of 2023, SiriusXM reported revenue of $2.29 billion, flat year over year, with net income of $352 million (compared with net income of $365 million a year earlier).

In the quarter, SiriusXM added approximately 131,000 new self-pay subscribers to end the year with about 34 million total. The company lost 445,000 self-pay subscribers for full-year 2023.

Last fall, in a bid to charge up its growth, SiriusXM unveiled a new logo, a brand-new app, a slate of new channels and shows, and the lower-priced Streaming All Access Plan ($9.99 per month, versus the company’s previous all-inclusive.