GoPro cuts 20 percent of workforce after being hit hard by pandemic

GoPro is laying off more than 20 percent of its workforce, over 200 employees, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has announced. The move is part of an attempt to reduce operating expenses by $100 million the year, and the company plans to reduce non-headcount related operating expenses to $250 million in 2021. GoPro added that its founder and CEO, Nicholas Woodman, will not be paid a salary for the remainder of the year, and that the company will shift more towards a direct-to-consumer sales model going forward.

The restructuring comes as GoPro has started to recover after its ill-fated move into the drone market. Released in late 2016 after several delays, the GoPro Karma was a basic drone that failed to impress, and GoPro ended up quitting the drone business just over a year later. Last year, there were signs the company had shaken off the pain of the move off the back of the success of the Hero 7.

GoPro says it sold 700,000 cameras in the first quarter and expects its 2020 product and service roadmap to be unaffected by operational cuts, according to Bloomberg.

Correction: This article originally stated that GoPro was reducing non-headcount operating expenses by $250 million in 2021. This is incorrect. GoPro is in fact reducing non-headcount operating expenses to $250 million in 2021. The Verge regrets the error.