Online ecommerce platform eBay has confirmed in a filing to the Security and Exchange Commission that the company will be letting “approximately 500 employees go”.
The filing, made on February 7, says that the 500 unlucky staff members – who collectively represent 4% of eBay’s total workforce – will be notified at some point today that they’re surplus to requirements.
Citing the worsening macroeconomic situation, eBay's CEO says the decision has been made to strengthen the company’s “ability to deliver better end-to-end experiences” for customers, and “support more innovation” across the company.
eBay Struggling in Bleak Economy
Like many companies forced into making layoffs, eBay’s decision to reduce its headcount by 500 signals that the company is struggling to cope with the current economic climate.
In the SEC filing, eBay chief executive Jamie Iannone says – in emphatically diplomatic fashion – that the company has had to take “a thoughtful look” at how best to run its operations in the current “macroeconomic situation”.
“To create long-term, sustainable growth for eBay,” he says the company needs “evolve” and focus on “driving growth, building a trusted marketplace, empowering enthusiasts, and seeding new technologies for the future.”
Laid-off Employees Promised Support
Also in the SEC filing, Iannone thanked the recently-axed employees for their “incredible talent, passion, and achievements”.
The eBay chief says that the company will support former employees as they “navigate the transition” to working elsewhere, and will provide “comprehensive transition packages with severance and employee incentive payments.”
Similar post-layoff help was announced by Zoom, which also hit the headlines today after laying off 1,300 employees itself.
More Layoffs Likely to Come
eBay and Zoom are the latest companies to join Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google in laying off significant proportions of their staff, but they’re not going to be the last.
Just this week, for instance, rumors that Meta might be about to make even more layoffs have begun to do the rounds. The company has already laid off thousands of workers in the past half-year.
With the global economy failing to fill big tech with optimism, it's only a matter of time before another established company is forced to part ways with hundreds – if not thousands – of staff members.
