Global payment company, PayPal, has announced plans to lay off about 9 per cent of its workforce on Tuesday, per reports.
This new round of big tech layoffs will affect around 2500 of the company’s workers all around the world. The job downsizing has begun and by the end of the week, will impact the earlier mentioned 2,500 jobs which is about 9% of the company’s workforce).
PayPal CEO announce layoffs
PayPal’s Chief Executive Officer, Alex Chriss, who announced the round of layoffs in a message to the company’s employees on Tuesday, said the decision was to “right-size” the company business.
“In our last Global All Hands, I shared that to build a growth organisation and unlock our true potential, we need to be honest about how we can improve,” the message read.
During the last few months, I have spent as much time as possible with as many of you as possible to learn about our company’s great strengths, as well as where we need to move faster, where we need to change, and what we need to do to instil a culture of innovation that returns our company to the true position of strength it deserves.”
“Specifically, across our organisation, we need to drive more focus and efficiency, deploy automation, and consolidate our technology to reduce complexity and duplication. We have started on that journey, but there is a lot of work to do and 2024 marks a year of change, including some difficult but necessary decisions to get us to where we need to go.
“Today, I am writing to share the difficult news that we will be reducing our global workforce by approximately 9 per cent through both direct reductions and the elimination of open roles over the course of the year.”
Alex Chriss further stated that the company will right-size its business, allowing it to move with the speed needed to deliver to customers and drive profitable growth. Also, PayPal will continue to invest in areas of the business we believe will create and accelerate growth, according to PayPal’s CEO.
He added that anyone whose role is included in the workforce reduction will be notified between Tuesday and the end of the week.
“These decisions were not easy to make, and we are undertaking these actions with tremendous care and consideration. True to our values, we will support our employees’ transitions with the utmost respect, support, and compassion.”
The PayPal boss ended the statement by saying all decisions are subject to consultation, where required by law.
PayPal layoffs in 2023
Recall that almost a year ago, in February 2023, Technext reported that PayPal announced plans to cut 2,000 of its employees, reducing the company’s workforce by seven percent as of then. The online payments company, under former president and CEO Dan Schulman, said it was forced to make the decision as it faces “the challenging macro-economic environment.”
PayPal’s announcement of fresh layoffs shows that last year’s tech-wide reckoning isn’t taking a break yet. The tech industry reportedly saw over 240,000 jobs lost in 2023, a 50 percent increase compared to 2022. Also, the running total of layoffs for 2023 based on full months to date is 224,503, per media reports.
In January 2024 alone, big tech companies that have job cuts include Microsoft, Swiggy, Aurora, eBay, TikTok, Google, Discord, Amazon, Twitch, Duolingo, and some others, per TechCrunch.