Sources have told us that up to 120 staff have been laid off at AppLovin-owned Adjust, just as the firm appointed a new CEO, Andrey Kazakov.
Insiders have told us that the layoffs could affect up to 50% of the staff at Adjust’s office in Berlin. The cuts were announced in a two-minute video call with affected staff last week, we’re told. We have asked AppLovin and Adjust for comment and clarification on the layoffs but have yet to receive any response.
Days after the layoffs were announced internally, Adjust publicly announced the appointment of its new CEO Andrey Kazakov. He returns to run Adjust after working at parent company AppLovin, where he was VP for non-gaming revenue. Kazakov founded Acquired.io, which was later bought by Adjust, which itself was acquired by AppLovin.
The staff cuts at Adjust continue the push at AppLovin to remove most ‘product’ staff from the company in favour of having engineering staff lead the way, as we’ve reported previously. As part of this drive, Adjust’s parent company AppLovin laid off over 120 staff in October, including many of the product folks running Machine Zone.
This push to have engineering lead the firm is referenced a little in a blog posted by returning CEO Andrey Kazakov over the weekend. It refers to a “new chapter” for Adjust, but does not mention the estimated 120 layoffs that are taking place at the firm.
“We’ve made important changes at Adjust, inspired by AppLovin’s culture,” he wrote. “AppLovin is one of the most efficient and fastest-growing tech companies right now and we want to bring that level of innovation and growth to Adjust. The product-first approach to drive the greatest impact for our client’s businesses, led by engineering and guided by commercial teams, will be the future for Adjust.”
