Dropbox to layoff 11% of workforce, COO to step down

(Reuters) - Dropbox Inc on Wednesday announced the exit of operations chief and said it will cut 11% of its global workforce, or 315 people, as the file hosting service provider shifts business resources in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shares fell nearly 6% to $22.26 after Dropbox said Chief Operating Officer Olivia Nottebohm, who joined last year from Alphabet Inc's Google, will step down on Feb. 5. (https://bit.ly/38CVySi)

Dropbox did not provide details of a replacement for the COO.

"Our Virtual First policy means we require fewer resources to support our in-office environment, so we're scaling back that investment and redeploying those resources to drive our ambitious product roadmap," Chief Executive Officer Drew Houston said in a letter to employees on Wednesday.

The San Francisco-based company had said in October that remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be a primary experience for its employees and its physical spaces will no longer be for daily individual work. (https://bit.ly/3qkrWz0)

(Reporting by Chavi Mehta and Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)