Streaming giant SoundCloud lays off 172 employees in a bid for an "independent future"

Music streaming company SoundCloud announced today that they are letting 40 per cent of their staff go to facilitate "reducing our costs and continuing our revenue growth" , according to a blog post from co-founder Alex Ljung.

This action has been on the cards for months, with FastCompany reporting in January that SoundClound faced "the two-pronged challenge of turning its finances around and remaining competitive in an increasingly crowded marketplace".

Ljung maintained that the layoffs were made in an attempt to ensure "long-term, independent success".

Some of those affected took to Twitter to react - and to advertise their services.

If anyone is hiring Data Scientists, ML Engineers, or Backend Engineers, DM me. Berlin or remote. Layoffs at SoundCloud. Many amazing people

— Aaron Levin (@aaronmblevin) July 6, 2017

Sigh. I hope SoundCloud makes it. The most creative web communities have the hardest time building businesses. https://t.co/cnfFG6sazJ

— Anil Dash (@anildash) July 6, 2017

hello m8s — soundcloud just laid me off and im looking for a job (along with 170 of my friends).

anyone hiring? :)

— Nathan James Yates (@NathanJY) July 6, 2017

Best thing you can do you for your team/org right now is hire literally anyone from SoundCloud that just got laid off.

— Brendan Codey (@brendancodey) July 6, 2017

Meanwhile, SoundCloud's employment account on Twitter has posted the following advertisments along with ones for backend testers and engineering managers:

We are now looking for Programmatic Sales Manager, Brand Partnerships #SoundCloudSpirithttps://t.co/4N4iP61DrS #job

— SoundCloud Jobs (@SoundCloudJobs) July 5, 2017

We are now looking for Director, Legal & Business Affairs #SoundCloudSpirithttps://t.co/zxsQjrjjEk #job

— SoundCloud Jobs (@SoundCloudJobs) July 4, 2017

We are now looking for Growth Marketing Manager Are you interested in joining? #SoundCloudSpirithttps://t.co/plTiu444lI #job

— SoundCloud Jobs (@SoundCloudJobs) July 1, 2017

Its offices in London and San Francisco will be closed as part of the move.