IZEA Worldwide Inc (IZEA) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

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Onset of 2020. We still have about 15% less full-time employees compared to our peak in 2016. We did not go on an all-out hiring spree when the markets were relentlessly climbing, we chose to be more pragmatic and reserved in our approach. Markets have changed quickly, and we are now benefiting from that decision. In Q3, we have further slowed the pace of hiring, filling on critical roles, essential backfills and hiring new sales team members directly tied to revenue generation.

Despite our plan to keep headcount relatively flat near term, we do expect costs related to labor to continue to rise in 2023, though not at the rate that they have over the past 2 years. There is no escape from the rising cost of inflation, impacting everything from salaries to insurance costs. To help counteract those rising costs, we have already implemented some staffing adjustments and reorganized departments in this quarter to optimize for efficiency moving forward. Throughout 2022, we have been streamlining our product team to deliver more innovative products faster, and we intend to keep a lean mentality moving forward. We have seen that small teams of smart people can be incredibly effective and our globalization of the product organization has resulted in lower cost per team member.

The streamlining of the product organization goes hand in hand with the consolidation of the software products under the IZEA umbrella. In late October, we shuttered shake in favor of the IZEA marketplace. And we will shutter IZEAx in late 2023, along with a multitude of legacy services associated with that platform that are expensive to run and maintain. Brand grass customer-facing experience will be rolled into IZEA FLEX in 2023. And we will eventually market under the IZEA brand for all software services. This decision will help us consolidate marketing spend and create a more cohesive user ecosystem in the years to come. We expect IZEA FLEX to reach MVP in this quarter. and we'll begin the transition of IZEAx customers after the holidays in Q1. On the growth side of the equation, we have been working to position ourselves to benefit from a number of catalysts in 2023. We will enter this year with 2 new software platforms, along with the sales presence in China as well as the U.K. IZEA has a strong pipeline of managed services opportunities but we must continue to build that pipeline given the longer close cycles and impacts on close rate we have seen in the back half of this year. The macro environment will require us to support sales efforts with increased marketing including an aggressive event schedule, content production and demand generation efforts. We're excited by some of the early indications from these initiatives and intend to capitalize on these opportunities in the quarters ahead. While there is no denying that some choppy economic waters lie in our path, we are in a position of financial strength. And this team is experienced and well equipped to navigate them. Thank you all for joining us today. I will now open up the call for Q& A from the analyst community.

(Operator Instructions) There's no questions at this time. I'll turn the call back to Ryan Schram.

Thanks so much, Scott, and thank you to everyone joining us this afternoon. As a reminder, all of IZEA's investor information can be found online at izea.com/investors. To our team members, investors and analysts affected by the hurricane in for today. Please stay safe, and thank you again for joining us this afternoon. Take care. .

That concludes the call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your line.