Peter Thiel’s Palantir cuts around 2% of its workforce

Data analytics firm Palantir Technologies said Monday it has cut about 2% of its workforce, joining a raft of companies that have laid off thousands of workers amid an economic downturn.

“To continue to evolve, we are making the tough choice of reducing teams in several areas,” the company said.

“While less than 2% of our workforce is impacted by these changes, these are incredibly painful decisions but the right ones for the company’s future.”

Palantir, known for its work with the Central Intelligence Agency, had 3,838 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2022. Palantir, whose chairman is Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, has won fewer and smaller contracts with the US government since Joe Biden became president.

The headcount reduction was first reported by Bloomberg News.

The company’s finance chief David Glazer earlier this month told Reuters Palantir had reduced employees’ stock-based compensation and cut back on cloud expenditure in recent months in response to lower spending from recession-wary businesses.

Earlier this month, Palantir had also said it expects 2023 to be the company’s first profitable year as it benefits from cost cuts and the artificial intelligence boom.