ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, Announces 7 Percent Layoffs

In recent years the world's economy has come to a standstill and many companies are in financial crisis. The domain name industry is not immune to this, as it was recently revealed that the non-profit organization is facing a $10 million budget shortfall. They announced 33 layoffs, which is about 7% of the organization's 485 positions.

ICANN stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It is a global non-profit organization that manages the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS), allocation of IP address space, allocation of protocol parameters, etc. ICANN's mission includes maintaining the security, stability, and sustainable development of the Internet while promoting the openness and globalization of the Internet.

ICANN said the agency faces a $10 million annual deficit due to slow growth in domain names.

The organization said in a blog post:

The decision is part of a broader effort to assess costs and activities, with a focus on managing resources, ensuring operational efficiencies and achieving financial sustainability. Other areas of focus include reviewing travel and meeting costs, optimizing the use of regional offices, exploring opportunities for greater cross-collaboration and process improvement across functions and regions, and evaluating ICANN's fee structure to ensure that it can realistically adjust with inflation.

This last statement may raise the hackles of contracting parties and domain name registrants. It implies that ICANN may consider raising the “tax” on domain name registrations.

ICANN has faced deficits in the past, and has even supplemented its coffers with funds from new TLD auctions.

This decision will put financial pressure on those who hold multiple domain names, and many may choose to delete some of their unprofitable domain names.