Snap, the maker of the ephemeral messaging app Snapchat, is laying off 20 percent of its employees, discontinuing at least six products and appointing its first chief operating officer in seven years, the financially struggling social media company said on Wednesday.The cuts are set to affect close to 1,300 of Snap’s 6,400 employees, the company said. Snap is closing down its division that produced exclusive short shows with celebrities and other influencers, as well as its social mapping app, Zenly; its music creation app, Voisey; and hardware including its drone camera, Pixy.At the same time, Snap said it was appointing Jerry Hunter, a senior vice president for engineering, to chief operating officer. Mr. Hunter will become the No. 2 to Evan Spiegel, who is a founder of Snap and its chief executive. The chief operating offic …
