The news: Bumble laid off 30% of its staff and announced it’s returning to a “startup mentality” as dating app engagement declines. The announcement led its stock to rise 25% Wednesday.

• Bumble and the online dating industry as a whole are at an “inflection point,” CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said in an employee memo.
• The layoffs affect about 240 employees and are expected to save the company about $40 million in annual costs.

Bumble also raised its Q2 revenue forecast to a range of $244 to $249 million, up from $235 million to $243 million.

Zooming out: Dating apps are pulling all the stops to stay relevant, often by adding AI features, as user engagement declines. About 80% of Gen Zers and millennials say they feel burned out by dating apps, per Forbes.

• Bumble is using AI to improve its matching algorithm, per its Q1 earnings call, and help users craft their profiles.
• Match Group, owner of Tinder, Hinge, and others, has been adding AI features to attract younger users and convert more paid subscribers.

Why it matters: The online dating industry is downsizing as interest in dating apps wanes.

• This is Bumble’s second downsizing since the beginning of 2024. It laid off about 350 employees in February 2024, citing plans to be more agile and attract a younger crowd.
• Match Group has had several rounds of layoffs since 2023, when it cut 8% of its employees. In 2024, another cut hit 6% of its workforce. And in May, after seeing paid users drop 5% in Q1, it laid off 13%, or 325 workers.

One outlier is queer dating app Grindr. The platform has expanded its pitch past location-based hookups toward a focus on longer-term dating, which could help it attract more advertisers. Grindr’s stock has increased by about 24% since the start of 2025.

Our take: Mass layoffs, especially after a leadership shakeup, risks eroding brand trust, even if the cuts show a plan to shift company direction.

Unless Bumble successfully reinvests those cost savings into tangible user benefits—like better safety measures and more personalized matchmaking—it could lose relevance in a saturated, burning-out dating market.