Mozilla Foundation's communications chief Brandon Borrman said, "The Mozilla Foundation is reorganising teams to increase agility and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and equitable technical future. Unfortunately, that means ending some of the work we have historically pursued and eliminating associated roles to bring more focus going forward."

According to its annual tax filings, the Mozilla Foundation reported having 60 employees during the 2022 tax year. However, according to someone knowledgeable, the number of employees at the time of the layoffs was closer to 120.

Mozilla's spokesperson did not dispute the figure. This is Mozilla's second layoff this year, the first affecting dozens of employees who work on the side of the organisation that builds the popular Firefox browser.

The Mozilla Foundation's executive director, Nabiha Syed, announced the layoffs in an email to all employees on 30 October. In the email, Syed confirmed that two of the foundation's significant divisions—advocacy and global programmes—are "no longer a part of our structure."

According to Syed, the move is partly to produce a "unified, powerful narrative from the Foundation," although that phrase is meaningless.

"Our mission at Mozilla is more high-stakes than ever," said Syed. "We find ourselves in a relentless onslaught of change in the technology (and broader) world, and the idea of putting people before profit feels increasingly radical."

"Navigating this topsy-turvy, distracting time requires laser focus -- and sometimes saying goodbye to the excellent work that has gotten us this far because it won't get us to the next peak. Lofty goals demand hard choices."