VSCO Lays Off 24 Employees Amid Consumer Slowdown

VSCO has laid off 24 employees across all divisions as photo-editing tools enter a churn-filled market where ad revenues and subscriptions are harder to lock down. It seems the coy, artful VSCO girls don’t constitute a viable business strategy. The staff cuts “reflect choices” to reorient VSCO around its main user: photographers, says co-founder Joel Flory. It will aim for high-quality paid subscribers rather than design-savvy teens who will throw money at anything that flattens their skin tone.

“I think it’s no secret the [consumer] market is tough,” says Flory in an interview with TechCrunch about the baseless backlash against VSCO. “We’re trying to figure out how we transition from what was known as classic social media — which can mean all things for everyone and nothing for somebody — toward creating really deep connections between people using algorithms and electricity.”

Why VSCO Is Restructuring Amid Tough Consumer Headwinds

The consumer photo-editing category is under a squeeze from numerous sides. And mainstream tools like Canva, Google Photos, and Adobe Lightroom are shipping rapid-fire AI features that automate retouching, background swapping, and stylistic changes. The result: fewer reasons for casual users to pay extra for a standalone editor, accelerating acquisition costs as new subscribers get more expensive.

Market researchers from Sensor Tower and data.ai have observed a wider mobile spend consolidation around social distribution or super-ecosystem-aware suites. For standalone consumer firms, that roll-up often compresses top-line growth and forces companies into differentiation or upmarket moves.

From Filters to Full Workflows for Working Photographers

VSCO leadership characterized the layoffs in an internal memo as part of a realignment to support working photographers with end-to-end tools. The organization is prioritizing:

• a redesigned editor built “AI-native”
• an assistant for automating common tasks across the suite
• more polished public Photo Galleries that act as portfolio destinations

VSCO has been quietly building toward this pivot. Last year, it introduced a marketplace that connects photographers with brands — an attempt to help creators find paid work and to diversify revenue beyond memberships. More recently, VSCO launched collaboration features under the Canvas moniker, as well as a new set of AI-based editing tools. Internally, the company cites its Pro business, an AI Lab, and projects known as TFP and Sites as the pillars it wants to build on.

What the 24 Layoffs Mean for VSCO’s Strategic Focus

The cut includes several departments, so it’s not a single team cut but more like resource reallocation. For a mid-sized software company, that scale of headcount trim can significantly lower OPEX and free up reinvestment for research, product design, and go-to-market for professional users.

It also highlights a strategic decision: rather than pursuing feature parity with general-purpose editors in a highly crowded consumer space, VSCO is betting that professional-grade workflows are a more defensible market with higher lifetime value per user, including:

• RAW file management
• high-precision color science
• batch operations (managing client selections)
• client collaboration
• rights-safe AI

Rising Pressure From AI-Powered Rivals and Platforms

Generative and assistive AI set new expectations across imaging. Adobe has integrated Firefly into Lightroom and Photoshop with content-aware fills and advanced select masking. Google Photos has introduced AI features such as Magic Editor. Canva provides image creation and manipulation at consumer scale with one-click design recommendations. Even CapCut, which is linked to TikTok’s creator ecosystem, provides strong video and photo tooling for free.

To do so, VSCO will need to show off AI that is both controllable and reliable — able to make edits without degrading a photo and that respect the intent of the photographer while limiting distortion.

For pros, what matters about as much as novelty is reliability and repeatability, which, in addition to building from strong aesthetic engines, is ultimately a matter of working with companies whose models have transparent behavior and clear licensing.

What This Restructuring Means for Creators and Brands

If VSCO pulls it off, artists may experience a tighter loop from shoot to edit to portfolio and, ultimately, to a paid gig. Modern Galleries reinvigorated and Sites tooling hint at more of a focus on showcasing work and conversion, while the marketplace might serve as your monetization modality (perhaps with take rates or value-added services like contracts, invoicing, or brand briefs).

For brands, a curated network coupled with standardized deliverables and AI-driven workflows can lead to shorter production cycles. The trick with VSCO will be to find the balance between speed and what the company calls “VSCO authenticity,” something that differentiates it in a marketplace now overrun with purely utility-based editors.

What to Watch Next as VSCO Shifts to Pro Workflows

Key signals over the next few quarters include:

• the launch of VSCO’s AI-native editor and assistant
• take-up among working photographers
• traction in its marketplace
• retention and average revenue per professional user
• portfolio publishing activity through Galleries and Sites
• partnerships with camera manufacturers, cloud storage companies, or creative agencies

The layoffs are a reset, not a retreat. With consumer growth tougher to purchase and AI reshaping the competitive landscape, a focused march into professional workflows could give VSCO the margin structure and product moat it needs — assuming it can move with speed, quality, and consistency that busy photographers trust.