Amid the crypto winter, Near Project's Octopus Network fires 40% of employees.

The originator of the initiative stated that 20% salary cutbacks would likewise be implemented for the remaining staff.

The layoffs

To respond to the current market environment, Octopus Network, a decentralized app chain network natively based on NEAR Protocol, has declared that it would be "refactoring."(1). Octopus Network will fire 12 of its 30 employees, or almost 40% of the workforce, as part of its restructuring process. The salaries of the remaining employees will likewise be reduced by 20%, and their team token incentive will be permanently discontinued.

Will this trend continue?

Despite having seen prior crypto winters, Octopus Network creator Louis Liu (2) claims that "this winter is considerably different from the others. According to Liu, the present crypto winter will likely last for at least another year, if not much longer, and most Web3 startups will not survive. The network will need to adapt its strategy to survive the crypto winter. This will include compressing operations and putting more emphasis on construction, with NEAR and IBC serving as the new strategy's pillars.

Many businesses have recently been forced to make tough decisions and lay off employees to stay in business. To survive the bear market, the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit announced a second wave of layoffs in December. Before this, the number of employees at Bybit had increased from a few hundred to over In two years 2,000. In the same month, Swyftx, an Australian cryptocurrency exchange, reduced 35% of its workforce in anticipation of a "worst-case scenario". Swyftx let go of 90 employees in total. The firm was not immune to the effects of FTX's demise, according to Alex Harper, the CEO, despite having no exposure to FTX. If the market's present fall continues, the crypto workforce may experience more layoffs.