The e-commerce giant eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) will undertake its second round of mass layoffs this year.
Yesterday, the popular online marketplace reportedly said it is preparing to lay off about 1,000 employees, or roughly 9% of its workforce. The additional layoffs, following a round of layoffs early this year, come at a time when eBay is in the middle of a strategic shift that has boosted its stock price.
The CEO of eBay, Jamie Iannone, sent a memo to staff informing them that the company will lay off roughly 9% of its existing workforce, according to Reuters. An eBay spokesperson later confirmed the plans with Reuters, saying about 1,000 workers would lose their jobs.
As of the end of last year, eBay had about 12,300 employees globally. In February, eBay laid off about 6% of its then-workforce, or about 800 positions.
The second round of layoffs confirmed this week is about 25% larger than the first round and comes at a time when the online marketplace is undergoing a strategic shift to help it better differentiate itself from its rivals.
eBay was one of the dotcom darlings of the early internet. The company brought the concept of online auctions to the masses and opened up a new way for ordinary people to easily sell their goods to make some extra cash.
But in the decades since eBay’s founding, many other platforms have arisen where third-party sellers can hawk their goods online. That competition, most notably from Amazon, has eaten into eBay’s popularity and its bottom line.
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