This week, Mozilla revealed a strategic change. The business has acknowledged that it is letting go of about 60 workers in an effort to refocus on Firefox and incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into its offerings. This reorganization represents approximately 5% of Mozilla’s personnel. The product development team members were primarily impacted by the most recent layoff.
The decision was explained in an internal memo that went around the business. It mentioned closing its Online Footprint Scrubber and shifting resources away from stand-alone privacy products like its VPN and Relay service. In addition, Mozilla disclosed that it would be closing Hubs, its 3D virtual world, and reducing its presence on Mastodon, which goes by the name mozilla.social.
Mozilla wants to focus more of its efforts and attention on areas that have the greatest potential for growth and impact, which is why it is focusing on Firefox and AI. Given that Firefox accounts for the majority of Mozilla’s revenue, the company recognizes the need to enhance its flagship product. The memo made clear how reliant on Google Mozilla is by nature, since the company’s partnership with Google generates the majority of Mozilla’s revenue.
“In order to concentrate on areas where we believe there is the best chance of success, we are cutting back on investment in some product areas.” a Mozilla spokesperson said in response to questions about the reorganization. In order to achieve this, we’ve had to make the painful choice to eliminate about 60 positions throughout the entire organization.” The business disclosed that it will be shifting resources to Firefox Mobile.
This change in strategy aligns with Laura Chambers’ recent appointment as Mozilla’s acting CEO. Chambers succeeds Mitchell Baker, the longtime CEO of Mozilla who is now Executive Chairwoman. Baker is a seasoned executive with experience at well-known tech companies like Airbnb and eBay.
Furthermore, Mozilla is not the only tech company letting go of staff members. Large tech companies have recently let go of thousands of employees, including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Cisco, Meta, and more. While some companies have stated that they need to cut expenses, a few have disclosed that they would prefer to concentrate on advancing AI or business.