eBay laying off about 800 workers, 6% of global workforce

[SAN JOSE] eBay is cutting about 800 jobs, or 6 per cent of its full-time employees, saying the layoffs are needed to align its workforce with strategic priorities.

“We are taking steps to reinvest across our business and align our structure with our strategic priorities, which will affect certain roles across our workforce,” the San Jose, California-based company said early Thursday (Feb 26) in a statement. “We are grateful for the contributions of the employees impacted and are committed to supporting them with care and respect.”

eBay will continue to hire in key areas.

The cuts come a week after the company said it would acquire secondhand fashion marketplace Depop for about US$1.2 billion in an effort to draw younger shoppers and after it reported robust quarterly results. Revenue increased 15 per cent to US$3 billion in the fourth quarter, surpassing analyst estimates.

The layoffs mark the third round of cuts in three years. In early 2024, the e-commerce company axed about 1,000 jobs, or about 9 per cent of its workforce, saying labour costs had outpaced growth.

In early 2023, the company terminated about 500 employees, or about 4 per cent of staff, citing a pullback in consumer spending following the pandemic-era online shopping boom. BLOOMBERG