eBay reduce global workforce by 10%

October 6, 2008

eBay have announced that they are reducing their global workforce by around 10%, affecting approximately 1,000 employees worldwide, as well as several hundred temporary workers. eBay’s CEO John Donahoe said “while never an easy decision to make, these reductions will help improve our operations and strengthen our ability to continue investing in growth.”

There is not yet any detail as to exactly where staff cuts will hit, though eBay UK and eBay Italy have both said that there will be no visible consequences for their site or customer service personnel. These announcements mention reorganising internal-facing teams throughout Europe, “with the aim of ultimately making eBay simpler, safer and more consistent to use”.

The original announcement was contained in a press release concerning eBay’s acquisition of payment service Bill Me Later and two Danish classified ads sites. But somehow, I don’t think this bad news is going to stay buried.

The company also stated it expects to hit the low end of its Q3 2008 revenue guidance; Q3 figures are due to be announced on 15th October. An investor call on today’s announcements is taking place any minute, so more information may emerge from that. We’ll keep you posted.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under News | 27 Comments 

Rumour: eBay redundancies tomorrow?

October 5, 2008

Rumours are flying that tomorrow is the day eBay will make the layoffs we’ve been expecting. A figure of 10% of the global workforce has been suggested, though we’re hearing it may be more than that, and that some smaller national offices may be closed down altogether in favour of more centralisation.

Valleywag asks why a website would need 15,000 employees. eBay and PayPal have rather more support staff than your average website, so we might speculate that an overall reduction in staff would hit them hard, so directly impacting already disgruntled sellers. Others have suggested that layoffs are unlikely to affect sellers at all. I guess we’ll find out tomorrw (or not).

If any ex-employees want to get in touch and give us the inside information, particularly on how this will affect eBay users, we’d love to talk to you.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under News | 19 Comments