Online retailer eBay is cutting 1,000 jobs. It is the latest technology company to reduce its workforce

Online retailer eBay Inc. will cut about 1,000 jobs, or about 9% of its full-time workforce, saying its headcount and costs have exceeded business growth in a slowing economy. It marks the latest layoffs in the tech industry.

CEO Jamie Iannone said in a message to employees Tuesday that the company will also reduce the number of “contracts we have within our alternative workforce over the coming months.”

Those who will be laid off will be informed via Zoom calls with their bosses, Iannone said, requesting that people work from home on Wednesday to allow for the privacy of those conversations.

“We need to better organize our teams for speed, which will allow us to be more agile, bring together similar work, and help us make decisions more quickly,” he said in the note, which was posted online.

“These changes are difficult, but I am confident that by working together we will be stronger than ever,” Iannone added.

eBay, based in San Jose, California, is the latest technology company to implement a series of layoffs after rapidly increasing hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic as people spent more time and money online.

Now, companies from Google to Amazon have been making painful job cuts to cut costs and improve their bottom lines.

Just this month, Google said it was laying off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams, while TikTok said it was laying off dozens of workers in advertising and sales and at video game developer Riot Games. , behind the popular “League of Legends”. “multiplayer battle game, was cutting 11% of its staff.

Meanwhile, Amazon said this month that it is cutting several hundred jobs at its Prime Video unit and MGM Studios.

The online retail giant owns two other companies that announced major layoffs in January: Audible, the online audiobook and podcast service, which is cutting about 5% of its workforce, and streaming platform Twitch, which is eliminating more of 500 jobs.

Other tech companies, including Spotify, Microsoft, Meta and IBM, have also recently cut jobs.

They are encountering a slowing economy following rapid interest rate increases unleashed by central banks around the world to combat rising inflation.

The eBay chief highlighted those concerns in the need to cut its workforce: “Despite facing external pressures, such as the challenging macroeconomic environment, we know we can be better with the factors we control,” Iannone said.

The company has also faced internal problems that hurt its business. The online retailer will pay a $3 million fine to resolve criminal charges in the United States over a harassment campaign by employees who sent live spiders, cockroaches and other disturbing items to a Massachusetts couple’s home, according to court documents. this month.

The Justice Department accused eBay of stalking, witness tampering and obstruction of justice more than three years after employees were indicted in a sprawling scheme to intimidate a couple who produced an online newsletter called EcommerceBytes that upset to eBay executives with their coverage.

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