Firefox-Owner Mozilla To Lay Off 60 Employees After Appointment Of New CEO: Report

Mozilla will also shut down Hubs, its 3D virtual world offering, and downsize its Mastodon presence named mozilla.social.

New Delhi: Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox web browser, is reportedly cutting about 60 jobs as part of a shake-up under a new chief executive officer. This move has been taken by the company to refocus its efforts on Firefox and bring artificial intelligence (AI) technology into its products.

The reduction in workforce equates to approximately 5% of Mozilla's employees, primarily affecting members of the product development teams. Moreover, the organization will also shut down Hubs, its 3D virtual world offering, and downsize its Mastodon presence named mozilla.social.

In a memo, Mozilla said that it will focus on bringing “trustworthy AI into Firefox” and to do so, it will bring together Pocket, Content, and the AI/ML teams supporting content with the Firefox Organization, reports TechCrunch. 

The company said that “Given the reduction in staffing and lower headcount budget moving forward in 'MozProd,' some roles have been consolidated in the People and other support services orgs so that we are offering the right level of support to our product portfolio."

Adding further, the company asserted, “The actions we're taking will make this strategic correction, working through a much smaller team to participate in the Mastodon ecosystem and more rapidly bring smaller experiments to people that choose to live on the mozilla.social instance,” the company added.

The company is scaling back its investment in market segments where competition is fierce and delivering a unique offering is difficult. It stated that there will be no alterations to its legal/policy, finance, business operations, marketing, or strategy and operations.

This decision follows closely on the heels of Laura Chambers' appointment as CEO, which occurred just a week ago. She has taken over the leadership duties from Mozilla's long-time CEO, Mitchell Baker, who now serves as the company's Executive Chairwoman. (With Inputs From IANS).