One of Cincinnati’s top venture-backed startups has slashed dozens of additional jobs – roughly 40% of its headcount – as it makes its second round of major cuts this year.
Astronomer, based in Over-the-Rhine with additional hubs in New York, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., last week laid off around 100 employees, according to Layoffs.fyi, a job tracking site that's followed the broader tech layoffs since the start of the pandemic.
The cuts are part of a restructuring effort and include software and field engineers, product operations and management, among other positions.
"After a period of rapid growth, Astronomer concluded it was necessary to simplify our operations in order to continue to grow on a path to profitability," the company said in a statement to Cincy Inno. "After (these) changes, Astronomer remains a global organization with a strong balance sheet. We are deeply grateful for the contributions that the talented individuals who are leaving have made."
Astronomer late last year employed more than 350, a ramp up that followed its massive $213 million Series C funding round, the second-highest fundraise in the region's history. Officials said the funds would be used to grow its team and aggressively scale operations.
In early January, Astronomer, like many startups nationwide, cut staff more than 20% – a loss of 76 jobs. CEO Joe Otto, who stepped down to a board of directors role at the time, told me the company simply over-hired.
Astronomer's headcount now stands at 170.
“We hired too many too fast,” Otto said in January. "The world’s in a weird place right now...we don’t know how long we’re going to be in whatever this (downturn) is."
Astronomer, founded in 2015, develops systems that help companies manage the flow of data, powered by Apache Airflow, an open-source platform.
It has raised more than $282 million in funding, making it No. 2 on the Courier's list of Greater Cincinnati's best-funded startups.
But the tech industry continues to grapple with slowing growth after a pandemic-led boom in business. Hamilton's 80 Acres Farms also cut jobs this year, under 10% of its workforce.
To date, more than 172,000 tech employees have been laid off in 2023. The latest wave has included Amazon and Meta – both on their second rounds of job cuts – online real estate firm OpenDoor and software company F5, among others.
