Mozilla, creators of the Firefox web browser, have recently announced the need for layoffs.
The charitable organization released a statement that due to decreased developments on several projects, about 60 staff members (which is around 5% of their whole team) will have to be let go.
The projects that are experiencing cutbacks, as noted by TechCrunch, include the recently introduced Online Footprint Scrubber, which had just been launched last week.
Aside from this, Mozilla VPN, Relay and various other privacy-related items are also witnessing a reduction in production. Mozilla believes that their products fall short in providing distinctive characteristics compared to their rivals.
The Mozilla.social Mastodon instance is also going to experience reduced investment going forward. For those using the instance, do not worry as it is not being discontinued but will undergo what Mozilla terms as a “strategic correction” with a downsized team.
In the future, Mozilla will shift its focus towards its main product: the Firefox web browser. This includes both the desktop version and the mobile version where there is significant scope for growth.
This decision is fairly understandable.
Mozilla Firefox remains the flagship product of the company and its main income source. Despite a drop in market share in the desktop domain, the browser remains robust and competitive. The most recent version, Firefox 122, further refined the browser’s privacy-centric webpage translation feature.
In a memo sent to employees Mozilla says it also wants to bring “trustworthy AI into Firefox”. To help it do that sooner it’s merging its Pocket, content, and AI/Ml teams.
While a renewed emphasis on Firefox is welcome news, the rest isn’t.
Lots of wonderful, talented people work at Mozilla and their loss won’t just affect the browser or its users but the wider open-source community to which they contribute.