Spiceworks Cuts 12 Percent of its Workforce

In January, Spiceworks turned 10 years old and Jay Hallberg, its CEO and co-founder, said the Austin-based company planned to hire 100 new employees this year.

But things changed and this week Hallberg, in a post on the company’s community site, now reports Spiceworks plans to layoff 12 percent of its workforce. In January, the company had 450 employees. That means 54 people lost jobs.

“This decision did not come lightly,” Hallberg wrote in the post to its customers, which he refers to as “Spiceheads.”

“As we previewed during SpiceWorld London last month, we’re embarking on a strategy we believe will add even more value to your day while positioning us for more focused growth,” Hallberg wrote. “You’ve told us you need more standalone, purpose-built tools that provide impact more quickly. You’ve also told us we can help you by aligning content, apps and community better so you can solve tech problems more quickly. We’re going do both of those and more.”

The London event, held in the Spring, is one of two major customer events Spiceworks holds each year. It also hosts Spiceworld in the Fall in Austin.

The company has been growing steadily for a decade. Last August, Spiceworks moved into much larger headquarters at 3700 North Capital of Texas Highway to accommodate its growing workforce.

The company has also raised $111 million in venture capital funding in five rounds from six investors. It last raised $57 million from Goldman Sachs in 2014. Other investors include Adams Street Partners, Tenaya Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures and Austin Ventures.

Spiceworks makes money by selling advertising on the products it offers customers like its Help Desk solution, IT Asset Manager, Network Manager, Mobile Device Management, IT Concierge and the Spiceworks Community.