Online retailer eBay is cutting 1,000 jobs; it’s the latest tech company to reduce its workforce

PTI, Jan 24, 2024, 5:20 PM IST

Credit: Ken Wolter/Dreamstime.com

London: Online retailer eBay Inc will cut about 1,000 jobs, or an estimated 9% of its full-time workforce, saying its number of employees and costs have exceeded how much the business is growing in a slowing economy. It marks the latest layoffs in the tech industry.

CEO Jamie Iannone said in a message to employees on Tuesday that the company also will reduce how many “contracts we have within our alternate workforce over the coming months”.

Those who are being laid off will be told through Zoom calls with their bosses, Iannone said, requesting that people work from home Wednesday to allow privacy for those conversations.

“We need to better organise our teams for speed — allowing us to be more nimble, bring like-work together, and help us make decisions more quickly,” he said in the note, which was posted online.

“These changes are difficult, but I’m confident that by working together we will become stronger than ever,” Iannone added.

San Jose, California-based eBay is the latest tech company to roll out a series of layoffs after quickly ramping up hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic while people spent more time and money online.

Now, companies from Google to Amazon have been making painful job cuts to reduce costs and bolster their bottom lines.

Just this month, Google said it was laying off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams, while TikTok said its shedding dozens of workers in ads and sales and video game developer Riot Games, behind the popular “League of Legends” multiplayer battle game, was trimming 11% of its staff.

Meanwhile, Amazon said this month that it is cutting several hundred jobs in its Prime Video and MGM Studios unit.

The online retail giant owns two other companies that announced major layoffs in January: Audible, the online audiobook and podcast service, which is trimming about 5% of its workforce, and streaming platform Twitch that is cutting more than 500 jobs.

Other tech companies, including Spotify, Microsoft, Meta and IBM, also have recently cut jobs.

They’re running into a slowing economy following rapid interest rate hikes unleashed by central banks around the world to combat soaring inflation.

The head of eBay pointed to those concerns in the need to trim its workforce: “Despite facing external pressures, like the challenging macroeconomic environment, we know we can be better with the factors we control,” Iannone said.

The company has also faced internal problems that hurt its business. The online retailer will pay a $3 million fine to resolve US criminal charges over a harassment campaign waged by employees who sent live spiders, cockroaches and other disturbing items to the home of a Massachusetts couple, according to court documents this month.

The Justice Department charged eBay with stalking, witness tampering and obstruction of justice more than three years after the employees were prosecuted in an extensive scheme to intimidate a couple who produced an online newsletter called EcommerceBytes that upset eBay executives with its coverage.