Angry Birds developer Rovio is has let go of 16 percent of its workforce - or 130 staff.

According to outgoing CEO Mikael Hed, the layoffs are a direct result of Rovio building a team based on 'assumptions of faster growth': growth that has yet to materialise.

"We work in businesses that are so fast moving that the only constant is change. At Rovio we have always been innovative and forward-looking, and to succeed we need to be the best at adapting to change," explained Hed, speaking via a company blog post.

"We are an entrepreneurial company and have been exploring multiple areas. We have been building our team on assumptions of faster growth than have materialised."

Angry staff

Hed justified the move by explaining that it's better to let staff members go now rather than give them false hope.

Indeed, with the firm now looking to focus on three key business areas, Hed believes that the decision, while regrettable, was, in fact, inevitable.

"We announced today that we plan to simplify our organisation around our three key businesses with the highest growth potential: games, media, and consumer products."

"Unfortunately, we also need to consider possible employee reductions of a maximum of 130 people in Finland - approximately 16% of our workforce.

"It is never easy to consider changes like this, but it is better to do them sooner rather than later, when we are in a good place to reignite growth."

Helping hand

Every cloud has a silver lining, however, and in this case that ray of hope is a Facebook group named Play Finland.

Play Finland, which is dedicated to 'everything and anything related to the Finnish game industry', has rallied around Rovio's castaways, with many of the group's 2,861 members posting a huge number of job openings.

If you happen to know anyone affected by the lay offs, you can point them in the direction of Play Finland by following this link.