Vimeo’s Indian-origin CEO announces layoffs: ‘Incredibly hard’ but also ‘responsible choice’

Anjali Sud.

Amid mass layoffs across numerous tech companies, American video-hosting platform Vimeo also announced that will let go 11 percent of its staff. Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud told employees that while it was a very difficult decision, it was also the "right thing to do" for the company's success.

"We are entering 2023 with a more focused strategy to simplify Vimeo, and ultimately, our team size and composition needs to reflect that focus," Sud wrote to her staff on January 4. "This reduction enables us to achieve our growth and profitability goals in a way that is far less dependent on the broader market, putting us in full control of our destiny."

Sharing a link of her message to the staff on LinkedIn, Sud said she felt deeply for those departing the company."What we need right now is humanity," she added.

Sud wrote that she was invested in the careers of Vimeo professionals and will help them navigate the layoffs.

"I will be reaching out to each of them to offer my network to support them in their next career steps," the Vimeo boss wrote. "If you know of an opportunity or are seeking great talent, let us know a vimeotalent@vimeo.com."

Vimeo had initiated layoffs in July too, reducing its staff by 6 percent. But Sud said there was more economic deterioration after that, because of "prolonged geopolitical conflict, rising interest rates, and global recession fears".

Sud took over as the CEO of Vimeo in July, 2017. She is credited with transforming Vimeo from a YouTube alternative to a platform offering companies video creating and sharing tools.

Sud had told Moneycontrol in a 2021 interview that she developed a global perspective moving across Indian and American cultures. Her parents  moved to the US from India right before she was born. She grew up in a town in Michigan among a tight knit Indian community.

"I grew up with a strong feeling of identity of being Indian but also in the US going to school, being an American," she said.

Also read: From daughter of Punjabi immigrants to Vimeo CEO: Anjali Sud wants to reimagine the future of video