eBay to cut 1000 jobs as tech companies laid off thousands in 2024

eBay announced on Tuesday it will cut about 1,000 jobs, or an estimated 9% of its current workforce, as the e-commerce retailer joins a growing list of tech companies downsizing in January. Alongside the job cuts, the company said it will reduce the number of contracts in its alternative workforce in the coming months, as mentioned by Iannone in the note

The news comes almost a year after eBay announced the plan to lay off 500 employees worldwide, accounting for 4% of its total workforce. In a letter shared with employees, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said, “While we are making progress against our strategy, our overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business.”

“The most significant and toughest of these decisions is to reduce our current workforce by approximately 1,000 roles or an estimated 9% of full-time employees. Additionally, we plan to scale back the number of contracts we have within our alternate workforce over the coming months. These are not actions we take lightly — and we recognize the impact they will have on all eBayers. We have to say goodbye to people who have made so many important contributions to the eBay community and culture, and this isn’t easy,” Jamie said.

Jamie added that the company is introducing changes within the organization that involve bringing together and streamlining certain teams to enhance the overall experience from start to finish, focusing on better-serving customers’ needs worldwide.

 “To address this, we’re implementing organizational changes that align and consolidate certain teams to improve the end-to-end experience, and better meet the needs of our customers around the world,” Iannone said.

The layoffs are part of a recent trend in the U.S. tech sector, which experienced significant hiring during the pandemic, with big players like Amazon and Google leading the way.

According to the layoff tracking website Layoffs.fyi, 72 tech companies have laid off a total of 13,240 employees so far this year. eBay is not alone. Tech giants including Google, Amazon, Discord, and Unity Software have already announced layoffs.