Tinder’s parent company is laying off 8 percent of its staff because growth is faltering

(Reuters) – Match Group Inc on Wednesday joined a growing list of US companies cutting jobs to contain costs after announcing plans to lay off about 8% of its workforce, or about 200 employees, as spending on its dating apps is slowing down .

The company issued a lackluster quarterly revenue forecast a day earlier that it attributed to a tough economy, a strong dollar and “significantly” poor product execution at Tinder. Product delays have also hit the Hinge app at a time of increased competition from rival Bumble Inc.

The job losses were mainly in areas such as recruitment, the company said in an email. The cuts have already taken place in the United States and are being implemented in other countries.

Match incurred about $3 million in termination benefits and similar costs in the fourth quarter and said it expected additional costs of about $6 million in 2023. It said the steps would help improve margins in the second half of the year.

Shares of Texas-based Match fell 7.7%.

The layoffs come as other tech companies, from Microsoft Corp. to Amazon.com Inc, cut tens of thousands of jobs to brace for a potential recession.

“In addition to the cuts, we expect Match to place more emphasis on marketing its Tinder and Hinge brands, core growth areas for 2023,” said CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino.

Match, which relied primarily on word of mouth, said Tinder will launch its first global marketing campaign in the current quarter to improve brand perception.

It forecast first-quarter revenue of between $790 million and $800 million, lower than analyst estimates of $817.3 million, according to Refinitiv data. The company also reported its first-ever quarterly revenue decline.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed)