The Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang's campaign laid off staff Wednesday after a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses and less than a week before the New Hampshire primary.

Dozens of staff may have been let go. The campaign said this had been the plan all along.

After failing to qualify for the televised debate ahead of the Iowa caucuses, Yang will be onstage Friday night for ABC's debate in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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PLYMOUTH, New Hampshire — The Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang's campaign laid off staff Wednesday after a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses and with the New Hampshire primary less than a week away.

The bulk of the layoffs came in the digital and communications departments, as well as in policy, according to a source familiar with the move, who described the result as an abrupt surprise to staff. Yang had garnered only about 1% of Iowa's state delegates as of the latest results, released Thursday.

At a campaign stop at Plymouth State University on Thursday afternoon, the campaign manager Zach Graumann confirmed the layoffs hit the Iowa staff and some parts of the campaign headquarters.

"This was the plan all along," Graumann said.

In a later statement to Insider, Graumann said that as "part of our original plans following the Iowa caucuses, we are winding down our Iowa operations and restructuring to compete as the New Hampshire primary approaches."

"These actions are a natural evolution of the campaign post-Iowa, same as other campaigns have undertaken, and Andrew Yang is going to keep fighting for the voices of the more than 400,000 supporters who have donated to the campaign and placed a stake in the future of our country," the statement continued.

The Yang campaign reported 230 staff members on its payroll at the end of the fourth fiscal quarter ending last December, up substantially from 70 at the end of the third quarter in the fall, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

A Politico report citing staff who lost their jobs put the layoffs to be in the dozens.

By the end of 2019, Yang's campaign had an 87% burn rate with $4.2 million in cash on hand, according to FEC filings.

Graumann said the layoffs were normal for any campaign moving on from Iowa.

After failing to qualify for the televised debate ahead of the Iowa caucuses, Yang will be onstage Friday night for ABC's debate in Manchester, New Hampshire.