Roku cutting 10% of staff, third mass layoff in months

For the third time in less than a year, Roku is scaling back its staffing levels.

In a recent filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the streaming software company announced that it’s laying off approximately 10 per cent of its workforce as it continues to look for ways to “bring down its year-over-year operating expense growth rate.”

According to news outlets, including Variety, the reduction comes after Roku eliminated 200 roles in March and another 200 last November.

In addition to the layoffs, the company plans to implement a variety of cost-cutting measures, including consolidating office space, limiting new hires, and reducing outside services expenses.

Roku expects the job cuts, including cash payments, to be “substantially complete by the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.”

Impact on Canadian staff

It remains unclear if Canadian employees will be affected by the latest round of layoffs at Roku.

According to LinkedIn, the company employs a total workforce of more than 3,900 people. At least 30 workers are located in Canada.

Major tech layoffs continue

Roku’s decision to trim its headcount further comes as layoffs continue to sweep across the tech sector in 2023.

Several major North American companies, including Ross Video, SecureWorks, Rapid7, Dell, Telus, Amazon, Microsoft, Ritual, and Meta, have announced substantial job cuts in recent months.

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Termination agreements for Roku employees

As part of the layoff announcement, Roku said it expects to “record a restructuring charge related to the workforce reduction, primarily consisting of severance and benefits costs, in a preliminary estimated range of $45 million to $65 million.”

In Canada, non-unionized employees at the streaming software company are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing, corporate restructuring, or the closure of the business.

This includes individuals working full-time, part-time, or hourly in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C.

People working “on contract” or as a contractor may also be owed severance pay — given that many employees in Canada are often misclassified as independent contractors.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Severance pay technology industry employees
• Rights to severance for provincially regulated employees
• Severance entitlements during mass layoffs

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper severance if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you don’t receive the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.

In some cases, employers pressure staff into accepting poor severance packages, such as imposing a deadline for accepting the offer.

Non-unionized employees in Canada have up to two years from the date of their dismissal to pursue a claim for full severance pay.