\n<\/p>\n
Wattpad<\/span><\/a>, a Toronto-based storytelling platform owned by Naver\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Webtoon Entertainment<\/span><\/a>, conducted another round of layoffs earlier this month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Wattpad has cut around 30 jobs, or roughly 15% of its workforce, a source familiar with the situation told TechCrunch. According to local media outlets, including <\/span>The Korea Economic Daily<\/span><\/a>, the cut impacted about 30 employees. A spokesperson for Wattpad did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.<\/span><\/p>\n The move is part of the company\u2019s restructuring plan aimed at reducing costs as its LA-based parent company<\/a> seeks to improve its finances ahead of an <\/span>initial public offering in the U.S. as early as 2025<\/span><\/a>, the source said. Webtoon Entertainment has three storytelling subsidiaries: Wattpad in Toronto, Naver Webtoon in Seoul and Line Digital Frontier<\/a> in Tokyo.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is the company\u2019s second round of layoffs. Wattpad <\/span>laid off 42 of its 267 workforce, or 15% of the staff, in March 2023<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last October, Wattpad\u00a0<\/span>launched a new freemium model<\/span><\/a>, \u201cWattpad Originals,\u201d allowing writers to hide certain chapters behind a paywall and readers to access free content and try before they buy.\u00a0<\/span>Most recently, the company began offering \u201cPremium Picks,\u201d<\/a><\/span>\u00a0which gives Premium and Premium+ subscribers monthly access to five free Wattpad Originals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n