Evernote lays off most of its US staff and shifts operations to Europe

We don’t know about you but we definitely feel something is not right at Evernote as we have just received reports that almost the entire US-based staff of Evernote has been laid off and the company has shifted its operations from the US to Europe in a move which is as confusing as someone can imagine. It is worth noting that Evernote is a note-taking app which has been extremely popular but the fact that it is based on subscriptions is somewhat strange when you have apps such as Google Keep and others giving you almost half the features for free.

Evernote mentioned in its announcement that “its employees were told on July 5th that the layoffs would happen, and has offered the employees 16 weeks of severance, a performance bonus, and up to a year’s worth of health insurance coverage”. Also, it is worth noting that Evernote was extremely popular because of its unique proposition when it arrived in the late 2010s but has struggled since then as better apps have taken its position as either free or cheaper pricing options. It is also worth noting (pun intended) that the app has struggled due to other reasons as well and was about to be shut down in 2016 when it suddenly got rescued but it has been a constant struggle.

Last year, Evernote was acquired by a company named Bending Spoons and it looks like the company is now taking corrective measures to sustain the company. At the time of acquisition, Evernote CEO said that the “deal would help the company work on building new features, using Bending Spoons’ “proven app expertise and wide range of proprietary technologies.” However, that does not seem to be the case right now as 129 employees were laid off at that time and now almost all of them are laid off. It is confusing to understand why Evernote is shifting its operations from the US to Europe but a statement from the company reads that this move is to “boost operational efficiency and to make the most of the Bending Spoons employer brand, which is extremely strong in Europe.”