You always see 10-15% cuts leading up to an IPO. Investors love it for some reason. It wouldn't surprise me if they intentionally overhired in anticipation of this. It's mostly not the technical talent.
> As part of SoftBank’s deal to acquire Arm for £24bn in 2016, the UK Takeover Panel stipulated that it would have to double its UK headcount over a five-year period, which stood at 1,600 at the time. The requirement to do so expired last year.
"Some reason" is a reduction of operating expenses which boost profit margins. From an investor perspective it makes sense, ARM is an established brand that has limited headroom to grow, you can't expect hyper growth from them so they need to make a case that the ROI is worth it, especially now that a buyout is off the table.
Well, that "profit" comes at the expensive of some difficult to measure forms of capital. It is very likely a net-negative for the company, but it does look good on the books.
Also means any buyer has to cut less when the show up. Let the old mgmt take the blame for layoffs and culture changes, rebuild from scratch.
No you don't