Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
I recently received a screenshot from a friend who was unfortunately part of the twenty five percent affected by recent layoffs at Prusa 3D. I'm sure many others can confirm that this screenshot is legitimate.
Unfortunately, the screenshot is in Czech, so I’ve translated it into English:
Hi!
I have an important message for you today that I am not writing easily. But it is necessary. Over the past few years, our team has been growing every year with new colleagues, and we are currently 1144 people. The company has grown, but with many new projects, our team grew as well - and faster than the business itself. We have reached a situation where our costs are increasing faster than our revenues. And that no longer makes sense.
At the same time, we are in a situation where, since the beginning of the year, we have not been meeting sales targets even by 90%. With high fixed costs, increasing competition, a drop in the value of the dollar, and other factors that we can’t all influence, it’s quite an unfavorable combination. We are all, of course, looking forward to INDX, but as part of this year’s plans, there are also other important products that, like INDX, are not yet ready - so they might be delayed, further threatening our ability to meet targets. Overall, we are taking on unnecessarily large risks, and it is necessary to address this.
Part of the next steps will be, among other things, a reduction in the number of positions. It’s a difficult decision, but we are making it to stabilize the company. This will inevitably impact the composition of some teams in Prague and the associated downsizing. The exception is operator positions - there, we are continuously optimizing efficiency and are currently in line with sales targets, so no major changes are planned there.I know you have a lot of questions right now. Each of you will learn about this in the coming days from your team leaders.
At the same time, we are starting to implement a more general cost control process. This will happen gradually over the next weeks and months, and the measures will be the same for all companies. The goal is simple - to bring our margins back to where they were in 2024.We have never done anything like this before. But it is a normal thing that companies that grow rapidly must occasionally do to stay healthy.And one last thing - I honestly admit that we should have addressed this situation last year. We hoped that our plans would be met, but hope is not hard data, which is what we should have been following. We misjudged it, and that’s our mistake, from which we are learning. At the same time, we are still very optimistic for this year, thanks to the arrival of INDX and the general push toward local manufacturing self-sufficiency. We just need to be as well-prepared as possible.
Ondřej and Josef (the one from the USA)
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
Since investing in a MK4 a few years ago I wondered how they could keep competing with Bambu etc and stay profitable. It does make me question whether they will stay viable in the consumer space. However, over-growth and subsequent down-sizing is standard practice in smaller companies so I'm not surprised.
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
That's the pits, but I'm old enough to have seen it multiple times. Without getting into politics, the world is a bit of a mess right now and it affects literally everything, not only supply chain costs and shipping costs, but the willingness of worried people to buy non-essential goods. And, let's face it, you buy food and pay the rent before buying 3D printers. Hopefully things will improve at some point, and we can get on an upward trend again.
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
It is disappointing to read that 2025 was already a bad year for Prusa, worse than 2024. With the Core One just released and in full production throughout the year, that should have been a "comeback" year for them.
Let's hope that INDX can actually move the needle somewhat, and that the reduced R&D bandwidth does not hurt other key product launches. PrusaSlicer 3.0 seems critical to catch up in terms of usability, and maybe innovation. (Whatever that "HD slicing" actually is...)
I am not sure whether a move to higher-end, semi-professional printers would be able to carry the company. There's less Chinese competition and less pricing pressure, but significantly smaller unit numbers there. I think Prusa will have to look for cost reduction measures that can translate into reduced sales prices -- outsourcing some manufacturing steps, buying lower-cost components? But with all the investments into PCB production, injection molding etc. already made, it may be difficult to turn this around.
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
Upsetting news, but on the cards with companies like Bambu breaking into the market with their beginner friendly models at comparatively cheap prices. People just want to print rather then tinker, and Bambu do have that cracked. Is a shame though, I still have a soft spot for my Prusa machines, and their support is still some of the best in the industry IMO.
The INDX system is late - just like their Core One was. It allowed the competition time to get into that space and establish themselves with 'neat' solutions. I do hope the INDX system does well, but I fear a fair chuck of multi material/color users have gone the AMS route by now, which just seems to work, without any upgrading/tinkering.......
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
[...] I think Prusa will have to look for cost reduction measures that can translate into reduced sales prices -- [...].
...reading some posts on Reddit, like https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/1rv53yk/i_really_like_prusa_printers_but_the_new_price_of/ ...it might be a wishful thinking...
Core One L
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
Huh, I think I would notice 25% leaving any team. This is flat out not true. The company didn't do an optimization of its operations any time before, so the first reshuffle was actually welcomed as a healthy step. I'm sorry that someone feels the need to spin internal communications to hurt the rest of the team. Well, don't let the facts get in the way of a bombshell story 😀
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
The INDX system is late - just like their Core One was. It allowed the competition time to get into that space and establish themselves with 'neat' solutions. I do hope the INDX system does well, but I fear a fair chuck of multi material/color users have gone the AMS route by now, which just seems to work, without any upgrading/tinkering.......
Core One, INDX, Universal Storage boxes, Prusa Slicer 3.0 were or are all late -- not necessarily vs. announced ship dates, but vs. the competition. As mentioned, having to lay off developers due to cost pressure is not necessarily helpful in that situation. Hopefully Prusa have some nice-to-have projects in the pipeline which they can defer, so the critical new stuff comes out very soon.
With INDX, Vortek and the cheap toolchanger from Snapmaker hitting the market, I can see many people replacing their AMS-based Bambu printers. The new approaches not only deliver much faster prints, but also a waste reduction which those who print a lot will certainly notice in their expenses. But how much of those replacement sales will be coming Prusa's way? Fingers crossed!
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
Huh, I think I would notice 25% leaving any team. This is flat out not true. The company didn't do an optimization of its operations any time before, so the first reshuffle was actually welcomed as a healthy step. I'm sorry that someone feels the need to spin internal communications to hurt the rest of the team. Well, don't let the facts get in the way of a bombshell story 😀
Well, of course this would go public -- you did not expect to keep it under wraps, right? I think Prusa's best course of action would be to publish an official announcement which states the facts, on the blog maybe.
Claiming that this was "welcomed as a healthy step" sounds rather cynical. I am pretty sure that those who got laid off are not welcoming it so much.
RE:
Let's hope that INDX can actually move the needle somewhat, and that the reduced R&D bandwidth does not hurt other key product launches. PrusaSlicer 3.0 seems critical to catch up in terms of usability, and maybe innovation. (Whatever that "HD slicing" actually is...)
I've always wondered about the money Prusa puts into developing PS, with it being open source the second they release it it's all in the hands of their rivals.
I get that PS was a fork of another project initially, and I get that the community still has lot of input into the development of PS, but surely any funding towards its development must be done begrudgingly, knowing that whilst they still share their code with the community...many other companies will reap equal rewards.
I've felt for a long time that although the spirit behind OSS is admirable, the long term outlook is rather bleak.
Its a sad state of play, but maybe the end of PS being Open Source is close?
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
Just wanted to add and clarify something.
With Tommy's post, he did go into a bit more details on a reddit post, as he is pulling double duty as he is covering for me as I'm out sick.
With the reshuffle, he is talking more along the lines of some internal things like processes and ways of handling things, and not talking about personnel and things being a healthy step.
https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/1rvfsfx/alleged_reported_layoffs_at_prusa/
"Hey folks
So yes, the post is real but the 25% fact is totally off base (unless it was maybe a single person from a team of 4, but I don't think that matches anyone). We have reduced on staff recently but it was in a controlled manner along with focusing on spending adjustments and improvements. There was no blanked "x% reduction" but an optimization of the teams. In no way should any team be crippled and operations are still continuing as normal.
It's never great to hear about layoffs in any capacity, but given the rapid growth of the company, it was overdue to take a step back and optimize things.
To expand on this from my own personal opinion on the matter:
I think this is a good thing. I feel very bad for some of the people (some of them being close and personal friends) that had to move on to new opportunities, but as a whole I've felt for a long time we can be more efficient with things and this was one of the largest steps towards that. With the company being more efficient, operation costs can come down and we can be more competitive with pricing.
In exactly 1 month, it marks 7 years at Prusa Research for me, and this year seems like it will be one of the most interesting ones yet."
Shane (AKA FromPrusa)
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
Thank you for sharing the additional perspective, Shane. Looking back over the posts here, I think we all understand that the combination of long, significant growth of the company, and setbacks on the revenue side, can make such measures necessary -- so nobody is claiming that Prusa is a terrible company for doing this.
But we are concerned what this means for the long-term future of Prusa (somewhat selfish maybe, since we prefer to have printers from a company with a stable outlook and the capacity to innovate). And also are wondering what it means for near-term product launches this year.
I guess the perfect answer to both concerns would be for Prusa to launch the long-awaited new products real soon now -- INDX, PrusaSlicer 3.0, USS come to mind, and full support for OpenPrintTag. That would be good news for us users itchy for the new stuff, and hopefully for Prusa's revenue outlook too. Fingers crossed that the teams can pull this off!
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
I've felt for a long time that although the spirit behind OSS is admirable, the long term outlook is rather bleak.
Its a sad state of play, but maybe the end of PS being Open Source is close?
I agree with your whole comment. In my case i don't mind much abandoning the open source approach. It was beneficial to have the sc available, for example my mmu2s kinda worked after a community's add-on (antimix's dribbling) that Prusa never incorporated in their slicer. But at this point it doesn't really matter to me since i want something that works and Prusaslicer is really good open or close. If BL or Elegoo or any other company wants to write a slicer they have their slicer fork, they have orcaslicer and can go from there.
And lets be honest. Prusa, at least hardware wise stopped being open source/reprap since the launch of the XL. Their current lineup has less and less printable parts (that good imho) and 3 years now and still no 3d schematic for the XL. And is a choice that had to be made. Prusa was riding the "we are opensource" for a long time now, and used it for both the benefit of the 3d printing community and as part of the justification for putting a premium on devices that needed tinkering. It was fine with mk3s since no other companies were offering anything similar in quality and price. If not all , most of the clones were of bad quality and from companies that offered minimal support. You got a 1k Prusa and then a 3k ultimaker that both worked and then an ender, for example, which was a bit of a headache. But the market have moved, companies like Creality (i never had one of their printers is from what i read) improved their products and name , BL came out and everyone was moving fast with Prusa still selling MK3 and MK4 for more than their features worth. And no, the majority of people that buy their 3d printers do not want to tinker with them. XL was late -maybe in favor of the mk4s- , expensive, had issues for its price tag (and that somehow pissed a small portion of their customers) and BL offered a quality easyness for a price a lot less than Prusas petg printed boxes. And by the time Prusa got the message BL already took a huge portion of the market. Companies stopped cloning Prusa bedslingers but they started making BM clones of the printers and AMS systems (mmu2s was a product years in production but still in beta form). Now Prusa got in the games with the "core" line and hopefully INDX. As an XL owner i feel a bit cheated on terms of promises since it looks that Prusa, running this race, doesnt care so much from the old lineup which presented XL as their flagship. And i talking about basic improvents such as cooling. I mean you get an exprensive machine that has PETG printed parts and you cannot print all the new materials that come out (like PPA CF ) because the whole approach makes it difficult. OK you have a multihead but you didnt considered that it would nee a -proper- enclosure? A cheap snapmaker has a better enclosure than a 4k XL? Heck a centauri has even better.
All in all i hope prusa catches up. I dont mind if they stopped being opensource, since as i said i just want to use a workflow to use my printer. I dont care what behind the hood.
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
Well I honestly can't share a lot, but with current plans, I would say your concerns, while well noted, will be settled over time. There is no plans for us (the company) to be going anywhere. The products you mentioned will be released as well as new ones down the road, from the outside looking at the company you should see some gradual improvements in the things we do and I believe in the long run that outcome will please a lot of people.
Shane (AKA FromPrusa)
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
I've felt for a long time that although the spirit behind OSS is admirable, the long term outlook is rather bleak.
Its a sad state of play, but maybe the end of PS being Open Source is close?
I agree with your whole comment. In my case i don't mind much abandoning the open source approach. It was beneficial to have the sc available, for example my mmu2s kinda worked after a community's add-on (antimix's dribbling) that Prusa never incorporated in their slicer. But at this point it doesn't really matter to me since i want something that works and Prusaslicer is really good open or close. If BL or Elegoo or any other company wants to write a slicer they have their slicer fork, they have orcaslicer and can go from there.
And lets be honest. Prusa, at least hardware wise stopped being open source/reprap since the launch of the XL. Their current lineup has less and less printable parts (that good imho) and 3 years now and still no 3d schematic for the XL. And is a choice that had to be made. Prusa was riding the "we are opensource" for a long time now, and used it for both the benefit of the 3d printing community and as part of the justification for putting a premium on devices that needed tinkering. It was fine with mk3s since no other companies were offering anything similar in quality and price. If not all , most of the clones were of bad quality and from companies that offered minimal support. You got a 1k Prusa and then a 3k ultimaker that both worked and then an ender, for example, which was a bit of a headache. But the market have moved, companies like Creality (i never had one of their printers is from what i read) improved their products and name , BL came out and everyone was moving fast with Prusa still selling MK3 and MK4 for more than their features worth. And no, the majority of people that buy their 3d printers do not want to tinker with them. XL was late -maybe in favor of the mk4s- , expensive, had issues for its price tag (and that somehow pissed a small portion of their customers) and BL offered a quality easyness for a price a lot less than Prusas petg printed boxes. And by the time Prusa got the message BL already took a huge portion of the market. Companies stopped cloning Prusa bedslingers but they started making BM clones of the printers and AMS systems (mmu2s was a product years in production but still in beta form). Now Prusa got in the games with the "core" line and hopefully INDX. As an XL owner i feel a bit cheated on terms of promises since it looks that Prusa, running this race, doesnt care so much from the old lineup which presented XL as their flagship. And i talking about basic improvents such as cooling. I mean you get an exprensive machine that has PETG printed parts and you cannot print all the new materials that come out (like PPA CF ) because the whole approach makes it difficult. OK you have a multihead but you didnt considered that it would nee a -proper- enclosure? A cheap snapmaker has a better enclosure than a 4k XL? Heck a centauri has even better.
All in all i hope prusa catches up. I dont mind if they stopped being opensource, since as i said i just want to use a workflow to use my printer. I dont care what behind the hood.
The problem with open source hardware is if you adopt that approach universally, you basically become a manufacturer. And there's no way a European based company can compete with China in manufacturing...that playing field is far too tilted.
So I absolutely understand if Prusa ditched open source completely in relation to hardware also.
This sector is far too aggressive, and there are just too many companies willing to take from the community and not give back.
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
IMO, open source can be a compromise between everything and just some things. I would hate to lose open-source firmware and software because every program I use from companies larger than a few people is poorly maintained and updates/upgrades come very slowly, if at all. Open source is more a labor of love and often vastly superior to the output of the corporate jam companies. (a nice musical reference for you) It's also a huge benefit to be able to print repair parts and modified parts. I don't think making those available contributes to the competition at all.
The 3D world is a much better place as a result of Prusa being in it!
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
Whatever happens, I prefer the smaller company, open source mentality against the corporate god who will force you to subscribe to air if they could.
I'm looking at you, Microsoft.
Vehemently against AI. I've seen that film. It ends badly.
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
The INDX system is late - just like their Core One was. It allowed the competition time to get into that space and establish themselves with 'neat' solutions. I do hope the INDX system does well, but I fear a fair chuck of multi material/color users have gone the AMS route by now, which just seems to work, without any upgrading/tinkering.......
Correct me if I am wrong, but it was my understanding that INDX is a 3rd party add-on, not a Prusa product (even if the plan is for it to be available through Prusa). So it being late might largely be out of Prusa's hands.
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
This is sad, but I admire they they saw he issue and are working to remedy the situation. I cannot fault them for hiring faster than demand, because they shows they were optimistic and wanted to be ready with the right people in the right places for projections. I would never want anyone to lose their job - that is unfortunate.
Yet, I am still optimistic about PRUSA. Great products, great reliability, and a great vision of that they want the industry to be like for the future. I cannot wait for INDX and I really want a CORE One L w/ INDX for my workplace. I cannot wait to see what PRUSA tackles next. And, I hope those that were layed off can return when the situation improves.
RE: Prusa 3D lays off nearly twenty five percent of developers due to financial issues
The INDX system is late - just like their Core One was. It allowed the competition time to get into that space and establish themselves with 'neat' solutions. I do hope the INDX system does well, but I fear a fair chuck of multi material/color users have gone the AMS route by now, which just seems to work, without any upgrading/tinkering.......
Correct me if I am wrong, but it was my understanding that INDX is a 3rd party add-on, not a Prusa product (even if the plan is for it to be available through Prusa). So it being late might largely be out of Prusa's hands.
Its not even late (yet)... We're still in Q1, Bondtech/Prusa said it would start shipping in Q1.