eBay Inc., an online retail company, has announced plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 1,000 employees, which is estimated to be around 9% of its total full-time staff. The decision was made due to the company’s current employee count and expenses being higher than its growth rate in a sluggish economy. This is one of the recent instances of lay-offs in the technology sector.

In a statement to employees on Tuesday, CEO Jamie Iannone announced that the company will be decreasing the number of contracts within our alternative workforce in the upcoming months.

According to Iannone, individuals who are being terminated will receive the news via Zoom meetings with their supervisors. He also asked for everyone to work remotely on Wednesday to ensure confidentiality during these discussions.

The individual stated in a publicly shared note that we must improve the structure of our teams in order to increase efficiency and agility. This will enable us to consolidate similar tasks and facilitate faster decision-making.

Iannone expressed confidence that we will emerge stronger than ever by facing these challenging changes together.

EBay, headquartered in San Jose, California, has recently announced a round of job cuts following a rapid increase in hiring during the COVID-19 outbreak, as online activity and spending rose.

Recently, various companies such as Google and Amazon have been implementing difficult reductions in their workforce in order to decrease expenses and strengthen their financial performance.

Earlier this month, Google announced that it would be reducing its workforce in various departments, such as hardware development, voice assistance, and engineering. Similarly, TikTok also revealed that it will be downsizing its workforce in advertising, sales, and video game development. Riot Games, the company responsible for the popular multiplayer game “League of Legends,” will be cutting 11% of its employees.

Recently, Amazon announced that it will be downsizing its workforce by laying off a few hundred employees in its Prime Video and MGM Studios division.

In January, two other companies owned by the large online retailer announced significant staff reductions. Audible, an online service for audiobooks and podcasts, will be reducing its workforce by approximately 5%. Twitch, a streaming platform, will be cutting over 500 jobs.

Several other large tech companies, such as Spotify, Microsoft, Meta, and IBM, have recently downsized their workforce as well.

The economy is facing a slowdown due to quick increases in interest rates by central banks globally, which were implemented to control rising inflation.

Iannone, the CEO of eBay, acknowledged the need to reduce their staff due to various challenges such as the tough economic climate. He stated that they have the ability to improve by focusing on factors within their control.

The business has encountered internal issues that negatively impacted its operations. According to recent court documents, the e-commerce company has agreed to pay a $3 million penalty for criminal charges related to an employee-led harassment campaign. The employees in question allegedly sent live spiders, cockroaches, and other unsettling items to the residence of a couple in Massachusetts.

The Department of Justice has accused eBay of stalking, tampering with witnesses, and obstructing justice over three years after the company’s employees were charged for their involvement in a plot to intimidate a couple who ran a newsletter called EcommerceBytes. The newsletter had upset eBay executives with its coverage.

Source: wral.com