Layoffs hit Plaid: Fintech firm fires 260 employees to cut costs

Fintech firm Plaid is terminating nearly 260 employees. CEO Zach Perret announced the news in a blog post, citing lower revenue growth throughout the past year.  

“Macroeconomic conditions have changed substantially this year. Despite being well-diversified across every category of financial services, we are seeing customers across the industry experiencing slower-than-expected growth. The simple reality is that due to these macroeconomic changes, our pace of cost growth outstripped our pace of revenue growth,” said Perret. 

These terminations “will allow us to continue to operate from a position of strength so we can best support our customers and the millions of consumers we jointly serve for the long term,” he continued.

Plaid, which enables consumers to link their financial information with apps and services, saw a rapid increase in the use of its platform by both new and existing customers during the pandemic. The company then hired aggressively to meet that consumer demand. However, the Fintech firm experienced slower-than-anticipated growth throughout the industry in 2022, and it led to costs outpacing Plaid’s revenue growth. 

While apologising to the laid-off employees, the CEO promised to support them in their next career move. Plaid is offering separation pay, health insurance, equity, career support, mental health coverage and immigration counsel to the impacted staff. 

Plaid was valued at $13.4 billion in an April 2021 funding round.