OnlyFans has laid off employees, saying it's part of a move to 'reshape certain teams'
OnlyFans, the subscription service famous for its adult content, has laid off employees as part of a move to "reshape certain teams," the company said in a statement to Insider.
OnlyFans did not specify how many employees were laid off or which divisions were affected.
"While this is the right decision for OnlyFans and our Creator community, we recognize it is difficult for the people who were impacted by this decision," the statement said. "Affected employees have been provided with a generous severance package and career counseling to support their transition period."
OnlyFans use skyrocketed during the pandemic, when it entered the zeitgeist and even found its way into a Beyoncé song.
Per the company's 2021 financial filings — the most recent available — the number of creators on the app grew from 348,000 in 2019 to 1,618,000 in 2020, and the number of "fans" grew from 13,478,000 to 82,308,000. Revenue grew from about £44,164,000 (about $53.7 million) in 2019 to about £283,467,000 (about $345 million) in 2020.
The platform has become a lucrative way for many creators to make money. Some adult content creators have earned millions of dollars from subscribers who pay to get access to their photos and videos, as well as to message the creators and receive custom content.
In late 2021, the company had a sudden change of leadership, when founder Tim Stokely stepped down as CEO, and Ami Gan, the company's former PR and marketing chief, was named CEO. Stokely and his family had sold the majority of the company to billionaire Leonid Radvinsky in 2018.
While other media companies, like Netflix and Roku, have been hit with slowdowns after thriving during the early months of the pandemic, OnlyFans execs said in June that the company had avoided such a downturn.
"We're not experiencing that slowdown," Keily Blair, OnlyFans' chief strategy and operations officer, said at the Money 20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam, CNBC reported.
At the same conference, the company's chief financial officer, Lee Taylor, said that the company was increasing its team by 2% to 3% each month. He specifically called out the UK office, saying, "We are building a team in the UK to help our creators maximize their earnings."
Currently, however, the company only has one open job listing on LinkedIn, and it is in the US. It did not appear to have job openings listed on its website or other popular job platforms, like Indeed.com.
Here is the full statement from OnlyFans on the layoffs:
"OnlyFans regularly reviews our internal structure to ensure we are Creator first in everything we do. As the number of Creators on OnlyFans continues to grow, we recently elected to reshape certain teams to better address the needs of our Creator community. While this is the right decision for OnlyFans and our Creator community, we recognize it is difficult for the people who were impacted by this decision. Affected employees have been provided with a generous severance package and career counseling to support their transition period."
OnlyFans has laid off employees, saying it's part of a move to 'reshape certain teams'
The subscription platform, which is known for hosting adult content, is one of many creator economy companies to be affected by layoffs.www.businessinsider.com
