eBay job cuts: Around 1,000 layoffs at tech giant

eBay has become the latest tech giant to announce mass layoffs in the first month of 2024.

The online marketplace has this week confirmed it plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 1,000 – equating to roughly 9% of its full-time workforce – in an attempt to “better position eBay for long-term, sustainable growth.” On top of that, it confirms contracts within its alternate workforce are also set to be “scaled back.”

In a note sent to workers, the California-based company’s President and CEO, Jamie Iannone outlined his long-term strategy and confirmed that changes made over the past three years have resulted in “increases in customer satisfaction and a meaningful improvement in our growth.”

However, Iannone goes on to cite the need to have a more optimized workforce that will allow for decisions to be made quicker, allowing them to be more “nimble”.

Iannone also recognizes external pressures the business faces, such as the challenging macroeconomic environment, before he admits that while eBay believes its current strategy is correct, its “overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of the business.”

“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,” Iannone said.

Founded in 1995, eBay is now worth over $21 billion. The online auction site had forecast fourth-quarter revenue and profit in 2023 would come in below Wall Street estimates.

Intensifying competition from the likes of Amazon and consumer spending cutbacks in developed economies due to inflation pressures have squeezed eBay’s bottom line.

A tough start to 2024 for tech giants

The tech industry continues to make widespread cuts to its workforce following a 2023 that Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg described as “the Year of Efficiency.”

In the first few weeks of 2024 alone, the tech sector has experienced more than 13,000 job cuts from 72 different tech companies, according to layoffs.fyi. That follows over 260,000 from more than 1,100 businesses in the sector in 2023 and 165,000 layoffs in 2022.

Earlier this week, TikTok announced 60 of its US-based workforce was being cut, while Google and Discord have also announced widespread layoffs in the first month of the year.

Featured Image: eBay