Ina Steiner EcommerceBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on ecommerce.
by Ina Steiner, Editor of EcommerceBytes.com
Tue Jan 23 2024 20:38:56

eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth

By: Ina Steiner

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eBay is laying off 9% of its fulltime workers, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said in a letter to employees on Tuesday. He said the company will also scale back its use of contract workers.

Iannone said eBay's overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of its business, but he did not disclose which areas of the company would be impacted by the layoffs. eBay had previously said it would roll out changes to its search engine in early 2024.

The CEO asked all employees to work from home on Wednesday as managers communicate with impacted employees.

Typically Iannone shares news on LinkedIn.com, but yesterday's post about eBay's AI-generated social media posts was the last one on his profile page as of Tuesday evening.

Iannone told employees in Tuesday's letter, "In areas where we're investing, we are seeing consistent increases in customer satisfaction and a meaningful improvement in our growth relative to the market." eBay has been prioritizing investments in focused categories, a strategy eBay bet would benefit all categories.

"Our strategy is the right one," the CEO told employees, "but there is more we can do to ensure our success. We need to better organize our teams for speed - allowing us to be more nimble, bring like-work together, and help us make decisions more quickly."

Last month, eBay rival Etsy laid off 11% of its workforce - including its Chief Marketing Officer and its Chief Human Resources Officer, and Amazon laid off staff in its Buy with Prime unit (fewer than 5%) and has made cuts in other areas as well. Walmart is also laying off 62 workers in Washington state as it shutters it innovation lab Store No. 8.*

CNBC reported that, "following hefty job cuts last year, tech companies have continued to eliminate positions in January as concerns about consumer and business spending persist." eBay had laid off 4% of its workers one year ago.

New-generation ecommerce apps Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop may be contributing to online marketplaces' difficulties.

Iannone's full letter to employees is available on the eBay corporate blog.

*Update 1/24/2024: Pymts pointed out in its coverage of the news that Wayfair announced last week it was laying off 13% of its global workforce and 19% of its corporate team.



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Perminate Link for eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth   eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth

This user has validated their user name. by: COVID-19

Tue Jan 23 21:09:38 2024

Oh noes! Does.....does this mean no more endless beer flow at that fancy bar Walkie something something?

Perminate Link for eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth   eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth

This user has validated their user name. by: COVID-19

Tue Jan 23 21:14:54 2024

Oh well 🤷🏽‍♂️ . It's not as though eBay sellers have been easily finding human eBay employees to talk to when they needed help anyway.

Perminate Link for eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth   eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth

by: Snapped This user has validated their user name.

Wed Jan 24 02:19:59 2024

Poof!  Like magic.

Perminate Link for eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth   eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth

by: GetAGrip This user has validated their user name.

Wed Jan 24 06:30:32 2024

Good Riddance. They won't be missed.

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This user has validated their user name. by: toolguy

Wed Jan 24 09:19:45 2024

It's eBay business as usual for me.

eBay can do nothing or everything, it just doesn't matter as much as it once did.

I RODE the WAVE and it was GREAT

Perminate Link for eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth   eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth

by: Arteephacts This user has validated their user name.

Wed Jan 24 10:23:19 2024

Can we start and end with Jamie?

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by: Shanna This user has validated their user name.

Wed Jan 24 11:02:21 2024

Elon Musk proved you can operate a tech company with a fraction of the original work force. He stated, if you don't care about censorship, you can let go of a lot of people, it turns out.  

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by: ebayout This user has validated their user name.

Wed Jan 24 11:50:32 2024

Code for 9% of his "work" force was producing nothing.

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by: CT Bay This user has validated their user name.

Wed Jan 24 12:13:53 2024

Loving the other comments! LOL.

Nobody there is doing anything right. It might be hard for those employees to find other jobs where nothing is expected to be done right.  

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by: RL15 This user has validated their user name.

Wed Jan 24 13:23:43 2024

the walmart dope waves his magic wand.....poof.....

cuts 9% of the do nothing work force...

... magical innovations.....

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This user has validated their user name. by: iheartjacksparrow

Wed Jan 24 13:28:53 2024

"He said the company will also scale back its use of contract workers."

Does that mean there will be even less CSRs?

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by: pace306 This user has validated their user name.

Wed Jan 24 14:20:56 2024

I’ve said it 1000x times in the past - eBay has 9000 do nothing employees

You can only steal so much from sellers, pay so many big salaries and have so many big parties

Jaime, Griff et al need to go

And like magic, poof - they are gone!

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by: None Such This user has validated their user name.

Thu Jan 25 00:19:57 2024

Software engineer layoffs are fine if the remaining folks would just focus on fixing basic functionality, like combined shipping, and not endless tinkering with magical innovations.  

I do feel for the folks laid off - never a good thing for anyone with a family to face.  And I hope eBay does NOT replace fired folks by offshoring more functions (like software development) at lower wages.  

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by: Kendo This user has validated their user name.

Thu Jan 25 01:51:20 2024

Just wondering did Jamie Iannone get a zoom call? We'll go down as one of the worst Ebay CEOs of all times.

Perminate Link for eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth   eBay Lays Off 9 Percent of Workers as Expenses Outpace Growth

by: comments This user has validated their user name.

Thu Jan 25 02:52:47 2024

The writing was on the wall for this. Most of the staff I deal with are smug and arrogant. They can't do anything and don't know about anything. The new stores, poor search, page layout, and showing listings from the highest ad bidder vs. most accurate and so on.

If every ebay board member purchased 3 items from walmart they would have seen that Mr. Iannone was the worst possible hire and ebay is every bit the hot mess that walmart.com is.

This is a team with no vision or quality control. Most of the employees I dealt with are nasty and lazy. The layoffs are welcome and I hope ebay keeps 'em coming.

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by: comments This user has validated their user name.

Thu Jan 25 02:54:24 2024

Oh and what about the other 91%? No need to stop at 9% keep on keepin on.

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by: ThebigR This user has validated their user name.

Thu Jan 25 09:33:39 2024

I'm always amazed they never bother the Grifter,but he has a get out of jail card free in his back pocket that he'd play in a heartbeat if he was ever let go....  

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This user has validated their user name. by: COVID-19

Thu Jan 25 09:47:03 2024

Jackie: Does that mean there will be even less CSRs?

It doesn't matter. AI Bots will soon replace human CSRs anyway.

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by: AddyUp This user has validated their user name.

Thu Jan 25 10:05:33 2024

There's a few forum reps that  thoroughly deserve a place on the ejector seat. Even the dumbest employee should realise that crapping on your customers is not good business practice.

If the eBay forums weren't so heavily censored I'm sure they would be told time and time again don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.

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This user has validated their user name. by: epuise

Thu Jan 25 10:08:41 2024

I recently rented a 2nd Booth at a "Vintage Mall".
What I've noticed is MOST Sales are under $25 items.
If shipped, that is still what 'sells', INCLUDING Postage/Tax.
At the Mall, a $25 sale nets me $25 (less of course, COGS, Rent, etc.)
Online, a $25 sale can be $15 after postage.
Note: I consider eBay (etc.) Fees as 'Rent'.
Credit Cards are 40% of Sale in Mall (still not considering).
People will willingly spend $20-$25.
There is 'price resistance' to spend $25 on item & $10+ on postage.
I get it, even on FaceBook where I get 'Do you ship"?
Post a $25 item, it's large, going far, postage can be $25.
"OK, thanks anyway".
A lady 60 miles away asked me to ship glass candlesticks that I posted at $29.
I double bubble boxed. USPS still broke one. = A $45 refund to Buyer = No Ins. as USPS insists Recipient BRING it all to P.O. And, they STILL deny.
An eBay Buyer who sells $1,000 items 'said' his $9.99 Vase broke.
No photos, despite him being a prolific Seller.
I just refunded him his $18 and Blocked him
I don't sell high ticket items. Hard to absorb losses.
I list LESS online. It takes me longer to:
1) See if the OOAK item DOES sell on eBay.
2) Assess whether POSTAGE will be a turn-off.
3) Assess whether USPS can possible damage.
4) Assess TIME/MATERIALS to PACK & try to AVOID 3).
Making a Sale for total $25 where one nets $10 before COGS+ is stupid.
I can put that item in the Mall & it flies out for $10., no packing.
Our Customers will Google Lens / eBay search.
See eBay at $25 / see mine at $10. Ka-Ching.
eBay rode the gravy train. Every increasing Fees on increased Postage.
Customers are seeing they can find it elsewhere, for less.
Sellers are seeing that selling a heavy low priced item, a fragile item, or, a high scam item, aren't worth the 'net return' or the risk.
So, eBay gets more fee on the postage hike.
And less large items sell as postage gets less appealing.
I see B&M and 'Events' like Shows, Flea Mkts, benefitting.
Just my 2 cents (less FVF).


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