Sprout Social plans to cut 20% of its workforce, or about 260 employees.

The social media management platform said it has started notifying the affected employees on Wednesday.

The job cuts come as the software industry is changing more broadly, Chief Executive Ryan Barretto said. Other software and technology companies have made significant cuts to their workforces as AI is capable of performing more jobs, and businesses are spending more on AI rather than labor.

"Our industry, and software more broadly, is changing quickly," he said. "The way companies need to operate and invest has changed with it."

In May, Sprout launched an AI-powered social intelligence platform designed to help businesses manage their social media presence. The company also expanded Trellis, its agentic AI engine that helps with publishing and analyzing social media data.

Oracle confirmed in June that it had let go of 21,000 people to spend more on AI. Cisco and Meta gave similar reasons for their layoffs of 20% and 10% of their workforces, respectively.

One of the biggest job cuts of the year was Block, the parent company of Square and Cash App, which said it was eliminating 40% of its workers because AI had changed the way the company operates.

The job cuts are expected to bring $18 million to $20 million in pre-tax restructuring costs, primarily consisting of severance payments and benefits. Sprout expects to recognize most of those charges in the third quarter, when the job cuts are slated to be complete.

Sprout is offering 12 weeks of salary plus one additional week for every year of tenure to the departing employees. It will also provide fully paid healthcare coverage for six months, a cash payment equal to the value of equity that would have vested in the next 90 days, and three months of outplacement support.

Sprout posted a narrower loss and higher sales in its most recently ended quarter, which it had reported in May. It said Wednesday that it expects its results for the quarter ended in June to be on the high end of its previous outlook.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 15, 2026 09:35 ET (13:35 GMT)

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