The e-commerce pioneer is aggressively restructuring to fund its pivot toward the next generation of shoppers.
eBay (EBAY) has announced it is cutting approximately 800 jobs (roughly 6% of its full-time workforce) in a strategic move to streamline operations and align its staffing with long-term priorities.
✂️ THE RESTRUCTURING DETAILS:
- The Cuts: 800 roles across the company, representing 6% of the global full-time workforce.
- The Rationale: Management cited the need to “reinvest across our business” and align the organizational structure with new strategic growth vectors.
- The Track Record: This marks eBay’s third major workforce reduction in recent years. The company previously cut 1,000 roles (9%) in early 2024 due to labor costs outpacing growth, and 500 roles (4%) in early 2023 amid a post-pandemic consumer slowdown.
👗 THE GEN Z PIVOT: These cuts do not exist in a vacuum. They come just one week after eBay announced a massive $1.2 billion acquisition of the popular resale app Depop.
- The Strategy: eBay is doubling down on the booming “re-commerce” and secondhand apparel markets.
- The Target: Depop provides immediate, scaled access to Gen Z consumers—a critical demographic eBay must capture to remain competitive against fast-growing, youth-oriented rivals.
💡 ANALYST TAKEAWAY: eBay is executing a classic “trim the legacy, buy the future” playbook. By shedding 6% of its traditional workforce, the company is freeing up the capital and operational bandwidth necessary to digest its $1.2 billion Depop acquisition. For legacy e-commerce platforms, the message is clear: surviving the next decade requires ruthless efficiency in core operations to fund expensive pivots into high-growth, youth-driven segments like circular fashion.
👇 E-commerce & Strategy Leaders: Is eBay’s $1.2B acquisition of Depop enough to successfully rebrand the legacy platform for Gen Z, or are these rolling yearly layoffs a sign of deeper structural stagnation?