How many employees does Spotify have? Headcount by year from its 20-F

This page is for sellers, analysts and anyone who needs a Spotify headcount they can cite: the latest number, what it counts and how it has moved. Spotify Technology S.A. files its annual report on Form 20-F rather than a 10-K, and reports in euros. Its 20-F gives the average number of employees for each year; its quarterly shareholder updates, filed on Form 6-K, give the count at the end of each quarter. Every number here comes from one of those filings.

Spotify employees by year

The averages are the "average number of employees" Spotify reports in each 20-F. The year-end counts come from the fourth-quarter shareholder update filed with the SEC each January or February, which says "At the end of Q4, our workforce consisted of" that many employees. The changes are our arithmetic.

The two measures tell different stories in years of change. In 2023 the average rose because headcount through most of 2023 was higher than through most of 2022; the year-end count had already fallen, and that count still included people leaving after the December cut.

Spotify headcount in 2026

The Q3 2026 update says "At the end of Q3, our workforce consisted of 7,284 full-time employees globally," 39 fewer than at the start of the year.

What the number includes

• Full-time employees, worldwide. The updates from Q4 2024 on count "full-time employees globally". The Q4 updates for 2020 to 2023 said "FTEs", full-time equivalents, which convert part-time staff into fractions of a full-time job.
• People on garden leave, in December 2023. The Q4 2023 count of 9,248 "Includes employees impacted by December 2023 workforce reduction that remained on garden leave," so it overstates the workforce actually at work at that date.
• Averages in the 20-F. The annual report's figure is an average over the year, not a point-in-time count, which is why it rarely matches the year-end number.
• No split by country or function in the figures cited here.

What changed and why

2018 to 2022: rapid growth

Average headcount more than doubled between 2018 and 2022, and the year-end count reached 10,151 at December 31, 2022.

2023: two rounds of cuts

On January 23, 2023 Spotify filed a 6-K saying it had "announced a reduction in the Company's employee base by about 6% across the Company," with €35 million to €45 million of severance-related charges. On December 4, 2023 it filed another, announcing "a reduction in the Company's employee base by approximately 17%," with about €130 million to €145 million of charges, mainly severance and real estate impairments. The Q4 2023 update shows €110 million of employee severance and related charges in that quarter.

2024 to 2026: flat headcount, growing revenue

Year-end headcount fell to 7,261 at the end of 2024 as the December 2023 reduction took effect, and has stayed between 7,261 and 7,323 at each date shown since. Revenue grew 18% in 2024 and 10% in 2025.

Revenue per employee

Spotify's 2025 revenue was €17,186 million. Divided by the 20-F's average headcount, that's €17,186 million ÷ 7,287 = about €2.36 million per employee (our calculation). Using the year-end count of 7,323 gives about €2.35 million.

The figures are in euros, as Spotify reports them. The 20-F describes its cost of revenue as largely royalty and distribution costs, so a large share of revenue is passed on to rights holders and revenue per employee overstates how much each employee's work adds. For companies measured the same way, see the highest revenue per employee list.

Selling to a company this size

General guidance on how technology companies of 7,000 people buy, not a description of Spotify's internal processes.

• Small teams own big problems. A company that cut over a quarter of its staff and grew revenue since then expects each team to do more. Tools that save engineering or operations time fit that story.
• Engineering builds by default. A product company will compare your offer with building it themselves. Show the cost of the in-house option.
• Think international. A company that reports in euros and sells worldwide spreads decisions across offices and regions. Find where the team that owns your problem sits.
• Land with one team. Win where the problem is sharpest and use the result to reach the next team: the land and expand motion.
• Name the people. Work out who signs, who uses and who can block. Our guide to finding decision makers in Europe covers the extra steps for European accounts.

Bebop researches each account and suggests who to talk to and the angle to open with; check what it finds against the company's filings.

How to check Spotify's headcount yourself

1. Search SEC EDGAR for Spotify Technology S.A. (CIK 1639920). It files Form 20-F, not 10-K, each February.
2. In the 20-F, search for "average number of employees" for the yearly average.
3. For a point-in-time count, open the latest 6-K that carries the quarterly shareholder update and search for "our workforce consisted of".
4. Before comparing with another company, check whether the other figure is an average, a year-end count or full-time equivalents.

Next step: see how Spotify compares with other software and platform businesses on our list of the largest software companies.