The blockchain infrastructure company, Parity Technologies, responsible for developing Polkadot, has recently been reported to be facing financial difficulties, leading to a significant number of layoffs.

Just a week before Parity Technologies, the organisation behind the Polkadot ecosystem, headed to Mallorca for their annual retreat, its 385 employees received some shocking news: the company will be letting go of a large portion of its workforce.

According to an X post shared by “chainyoda,” a core contributor, on 12 October as below:

But as of now, this information has not been officially confirmed by Parity Technologies.

Retreat in Spain

At the retreat in Mallorca, Spain, an employee attending the conference remarked, "Some people even cried while speaking on stage. Many left early."

According to several employees participating in the retreat, Gavin Wood, co-founder and CTO of Ethereum, and CEO of Parity Technologies did not attend, which left many feeling angry and confused.

Employees interviewed by DL News expressed their belief that this decision was made by Wood.

Polkadot's Financial Management

Over the past 12 months, the price of Polkadot's DOT token has plummeted due to the bear market.

According to employees at Parity, the company had to downsize due to cash depletion.

They stated that Parity went on a significant hiring spree in the past year, which led to financial difficulties.

An employee mentioned, "The company should have managed costs better during the bear market, but it spent money as if it were still a bull market."

Polkadot's DOT token experienced a significant drop in value over the past year amidst the bear market.

Waiting for an Official Response

Some of Parity's funding comes from the Web3 Foundation, which is another organization established by Wood.

According to a Parity employee, the Web3 Foundation has also announced layoffs, affecting approximately 40% of the staff.

In fact, some employees stated that Parity's Chief Financial Officer, Fahmi Syed, left the company the day before the announcement of the layoffs.

However, as of today, Syed's LinkedIn profile still lists him as the Chief Financial Officer of the company. Could this be an issue related to his notice period?

Whether it's Syed or Wood, everyone is eagerly awaiting an official response from them.