EBay laying off 1,000 workers — 9% of workforce
EBay will lay off about 1,000 full-time employees, or roughly 9% of its overall workforce, as it looks to reverse a major slump at the once-booming online marketplace, the company said.
The San Jose, Calif.-based auction site asked its remaining employees to work from home on Wednesday “to provide some space and privacy” as it began informing impacted workers via Zoom.
In addition to the layoffs, eBay said it will “scale back” its use of contractors in support roles in the months ahead.
Iannone cited “external pressures, like the challenging macroeconomic environment” as factors that contributed to the culling.
“Our overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business,” Iannone said in the memo. “To address this, we’re implementing organizational changes that align and consolidate certain teams to improve the end-to-end experience, and better meet the needs of our customers around the world.”
Laid-off employees will receive “support and resources,” Iannone added.
EBay shares were flat in trading Wednesday after the announcement.
The job cuts are the latest sign of ongoing pain at eBay – which previously laid off 500 employees as recently as last February.
The company had approximately 11,600 employees around the world as of the end of 2022, according to filings.
The company had ramped up hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic, only to be hammered by the impact of high interest rates and inflation that led many Americans to cut back on their online spending.
EBay is the latest of several notable tech industry firms that have enacted job cuts in recent days.
Earlier this month, Google irked employees by announcing more than 1,000 layoffs across multiple divisions.
CEO Sundar Pichai has identified “durable cost savings” as one of the company’s goals for 2024.
Ecommerce giant Amazon also announced cuts — including about 500 workers at its livestreaming site Twitch.
