Bumble Cuts Nearly a Third of Staff, Redirects Savings to App Upgrades
Bumble Inc. will eliminate roughly 240 jobs (about 30 percent of its global headcount) in a bid to free up US $40 million a year to overhaul its dating platforms. The layoffs, disclosed in a securities filing on Wednesday, sent the women-focused app’s stock up 19 percent in afternoon trading.
The company expects one-time charges of US $13 million to US $18 million tied to severance and related costs, most of which will be recorded in the third and fourth quarters.
Savings will be steered into “product and technology development,” the filing said.
“These decisions were not made lightly, and we are deeply grateful for the contributions of every employee impacted,” Bumble said in a statement to the Associated Press, adding that the restructuring is meant to “strengthen our core business” and “position us for future growth.”
Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who returned to the chief-executive post in March, echoed that goal in a memo to staff.
“Bumble, like the online-dating industry itself, is at an inflection point,” she wrote, noting that the company has spent recent months “rebuilding” its service and culture.
While Wednesday’s rally lifted Bumble shares above US $6.40, the stock remains down more than a third in the past year and sits far below its 2021 IPO peak of about US $15 billion in market value. Reuters data put the company’s current capitalization just over US $500 million even after the bounce.
Analyst Chandler Willison of research firm M Science said the leaner workforce “signals a shift toward improving user experience rather than chasing short-term revenue,” a change he believes Wolfe Herd sees as essential to winning back Gen Z users.
The broader sector is under strain. Rival Match Group cut 13 percent of its staff in May as paying-user growth slowed. Competitive pressure and softer consumer spending have left many dating apps searching for new features to keep audiences engaged.
Despite the headwinds, Bumble lifted its second-quarter revenue forecast to US $244–249 million, up from a prior US $235–243 million range. First-quarter sales, reported in May, slipped 7 percent year over year but met Wall Street estimates, tempering investor concerns at the time.
Bumble went public in February 2021 touting a mission of female-first networking. A sharp post-pandemic slowdown in user growth, combined with rising marketing costs, has forced management to rethink strategy repeatedly.
The company says the latest realignment will concentrate resources on in-app safety tools, recommendation algorithms and new social-discovery products aimed at younger audiences.
Whether the plan delivers a long-term turnaround remains to be seen, but investors rewarded the decisive cost cuts on Wednesday.
For employees and users alike, the next test will come when Bumble rolls out its revamped experience later this year—proof that trimming staff can translate into a better match on screen.
