- Match Group is laying off 13% of its workforce. The move comes as paid users fell another 5% in the most recent quarter. Young users are pivoting back to real-world meetups, rather than online dating.
Match Group, the parent company of dating apps including Tinder, Hinge, and OKCupid, is culling its workforce by 13%, announcing plans to cut approximately 325 jobs.
The move comes as demand for dating apps among younger users weakens. Profits for the first quarter came in at $117.6 million, compared to $123.2 million in 2024. Paid users, however, were down 5% from a year ago to 14.2 million.
Tinder saw the biggest drop, with subscriptions declining 7%. Hinge, meanwhile, saw a spike, with paying users increasing by 23%.
The cuts will save Match $100 million per year, according to CEO Spencer Rascoff. The company is also not ruling out price cuts and promotions, saying it is “prepared to take pricing, merchandising, or other actions to minimize the impact to our financial performance.”
Match properties won’t be directly impacted by tariffs, since they don’t use any imported goods. However, as prices increase, sometimes dramatically, due to those levies, the company’s customer base might cut back on expenses, including dating apps, especially with a growing number of free alternatives like Facebook. Younger users, meanwhile, are pivoting back to real-world meet-ups.
Match Group has seen its stock price tumble more than 70% over the past five years. Bank of America analysts said in a Feb. 5 note that Rascoff’s appointment as CEO could be a positive for the company, but noted “the online dating industry faces continued headwinds to user growth.”
Rascoff, in March, posted an open letter on LinkedIn, where he said the company’s dating apps were falling short and don’t feel like places “to build real connections.” He has called on Match employees to offer feedback on how to best improve the services.