Dropbox COO to step down as company announces mass layoffs

Dropbox on Wednesday announced the exit of its operations chief and said it will cut 11 percent 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 percent 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.

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 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.