Cyanogen lays off OS staff, to switch focus to app development

According to reports from multiple sources, Cyanogen Inc is currently laying off a huge number of of its workforce.

As discovered first by Android Police, the company known for its CyanogenMod OS, is turning away and moving in a completely different direction. The layoffs are reportedly largely from Cyanogen’s OS arm, with the employees in the open source division likely to all be culled.

The reports indicate that employees were called into meetings as groups and told they were being let go. There was absolutely no announcements or warnings to anyone beforehand. Allegedly, employees being kept on were told not to come to work on the layoff day, whereas others had HR meetings slipped into their calendars overnight. Around 30 of the 136 people in Cyanogen’s employ have been fired, though that number may have already risen.

The cause for the drastic maneuver is reportedly a switch in company focus, from OS to apps. According to Recode, the new strategy was reportedly catalysed by Cyanogen's new COO Lior Tal, though CEO Kirt McMaster declined to comment.