Evernote app lays off most US staff
Note-taking app Evernote has laid off nearly all of its workers in the U.S. and Chile, with plans to move almost all operations to Europe, SFGate reports. The news comes five months after the company, once considered the “king of note-taking apps,” laid off 129 employees. A spokesperson told TechCrunch in February it was because the company had “been unprofitable for years” and the situation at the time would be “unsustainable in the long term.” Italian app developer Bending Spoons acquired Evernote in November.
- In September, Bending Spoons raised $340 million in financing from investors that included Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort company.
By Tiffany Moustakas, Editor at LinkedIn News
Bay Area tech company Evernote lays off most staff, relocating to Europe
Evernote, the note-taking app once heralded by Engadget as the “king of note-taking apps,” has laid off most of its staff as it prepares to exit the Bay Area and relocate nearly all operations to Europe.
The Redwood City-based note-taking company — which has weathered all manner of tumult over the past decade, capped off last November by the sale of the company to Italian app maker Bending Spoons — axed nearly all its employees in the United States and Chile, according to a statement from Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari provided to SFGATE.
Most of the company’s “operations will be transitioned to Europe,” Ferrari said in the statement, due to the “significant boost in operational efficiency that will come as a consequence of centralizing operations in Europe.”
The layoffs come less than six months after the company eliminated 129 workers — a decision that came as a result of the company’s unprofitability making it “unsustainable in the long term,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch at the time.
A former darling of the productivity world, Evernote was hit by rounds of mass layoffs in 2015 and 2018 as the company attempted to expand rapidly outside of its note-taking niche. (The latter layoff round came shortly after an executive exodus). As it floundered, buzzy upstarts like San Francisco-based Notion came into the fold, while Apple and Microsoft beefed up their in-house note-taking apps.
Bending Spoons announced last year it surpassed $100 million in annual revenue. It also snagged a $340 million funding round backed by Italian banking giants and Maximum Effort, Ryan Reynolds’ company. There are no mentions of Evernote’s profit — or unprofitability — in Ferrari’s latest statement.
A spokesperson also did not respond when asked how many workers, specifically, were affected by the layoffs. According to LinkedIn posts from affected workers, employees in engineering and IT were affected.
“Our plans for Evernote are as ambitious as ever: Going forward, a growing, dedicated team based in Europe will continue to assume ownership of the Evernote product,” Ferrari added. “This team will also be in an ideal position to leverage the extensive expertise and strength of the 400-plus workforce at Bending Spoons, many of whom have been working on Evernote full-time since the acquisition.”
The company will provide 16 weeks of salary and a prorated performance bonus, up to one year of health insurance and visa support to employees affected.
BY Joshua Bote,
