23andMe Lays Off 100 Workers Amid Shrinking Demand for DNA TestsIt's not the hot market the company predicted.
ByJon Fingas•
This story originally appeared onEngadget
If you'reskittish about DNA testing services, you're not the only one — and it's directly affecting one of the heavyweights in the field. The 23andMe team islaying offabout 100 workers, or 14 percent of its total workforce, in light of declining sales. The job cuts will focus on units responsible for growing and scaling the company. In the months ahead, 23andMe expects to cut back its work on clinical studies and focus more on itshome testingand therapeutic offerings.
Related:The DNA Testing Company 23andMe Reveals a New Genetic Analysis
Company chief Anne Wojcicki didn't have definitive explanations for the shrinking sales in a chat withCNBC, but did speculate that privacy was "top of mind" for customers and might have been a factor. Cold cases like the Golden State Killer appear to have beensolved using online DNA databases— there might be a fear of sensitive genetic info falling into the wrong hands. Wojcicki also suspected that fear of a US recession might lead people to cut back on unnecessary expenses, and a home DNA test could easily be one of the first things to go.
Related:How 23andMe Caused a Divorce: A Look at Unintended Consequences
The company isn't the only one facing trouble. Veritas Genetics closed its US business in late 2019, while Illuminia warned that the entire market was down last summer after witnessing a drop in demand for its DNA sequencing machines. In that regard, 23andMe is acknowledging the reality that DNA testing isn't as hot a market as it was in previous years.
