This week, many cryptocurrency companies have cut jobs in response to the current crypto winter. Yet these companies have chosen to keep “impactful” people on staff as they prepare for a “longer recession.”

At least 216 jobs were cut at three different cryptocurrency companies. These companies are open source software lab Protocol Labs, blockchain data firm Chainalysis, and cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex. Each of these companies reduced their staff by 89, 83 and 44 employees, respectively.

In a blog post dated Feb. 3, Juan Benet, CEO of Protocol Labs, the firm that introduced Filecoin (FIL), said the company will cut jobs because it needed to focus its workforce “on the most impactful and critical projects.” for business.” .”

He stated that the firm had come to the conclusion that it was in the best position to “weather this prolonged winter” by cutting “89 jobs”, which equates to around 21% of its workforce.

With the cryptocurrency business now experiencing “very tough” conditions, Benet said the company should “plan for a longer downturn.”

Meanwhile, on February 1, Bittrex CEO Richie Lai sent an email to company workers notifying them that the company would be cutting their employment to “maintain the long-term health” of the business.

On February 2, the email was inappropriately shared on Twitter. Lai said that even though the leadership team has been “working vigorously” in recent months to reduce expenses and increase efficiency, the efforts have not achieved the “required results.” Lai added that the efforts have not yielded the “necessary results.”

Lai went on to say that the current state of the market required a reassessment of the company’s approach and readjustment of its “investments with the new economic climate.”

On February 2, 2018, employment-related records in Washington state indicated that Bittrex had removed 83 positions.

According to statements by Maddie Kennedy, Chainalysis’s director of communications, to Forbes on February 1, the firm laid off 44 of its 900 workers, representing about 4.8% of the workforce. Kennedy said those who were laid off were “primarily in sales” at the company.

The announcement of these layoffs follows reports that in January, at least 2,900 employees were laid off at 14 different cryptocurrency organizations.

Among those companies, Coinbase experienced the most headcount reductions, with 950 employees losing their jobs on January 10.

During this time, rival cryptocurrency exchanges Crypto.com, Luno, and Huobi laid off about 500 employees, 330 employees, and 320 employees, respectively.