Key Takeaways
- PayPal said Tuesday it is cutting 9% of its total workforce; its shares fell more than 1% a day after.
- The digital payment company cuts come as several tech companies, including Salesforce, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, announce layoffs this month.
- Nick Bunker, economic research director at Indeed’s hiring lab, said that the “layoffs [do] not represent what was happening in the rest of the U.S. labor market” as companies “adjust to the current economic outlook after a burst of hiring in 2021.”
PayPal (PYPL) said Tuesday it is cutting 9% of its total workforce, joining a string of tech firms announcing layoffs this year.
The digital payment company, which made a round of layoffs last year, will cut headcount “through both direct reductions and the elimination of open roles over the course of the year,” PayPal Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alex Chriss wrote in a statement.
He said that the company is “doing this to right-size our business, allowing us to move with the speed needed to deliver for our customers and drive profitable growth.”
The PayPal layoffs come amid an onslaught of recent tech industry layoffs at companies including Salesforce (CRM), Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOGL), and Amazon (AMZN), among others.
PayPal laid off 7% of its workforce at the start of 2023, and had 29,900 staff as of 2022, meaning that the latest 9% round will affect 2,500 workers.
Nick Bunker, economic research director at Indeed’s hiring lab, said that the recent string of tech industry layoffs reflect companies “adjust[ing] to the current economic outlook after a burst of hiring in 2021.”
“Last year’s batch of layoffs did not represent what was happening in the rest of the U.S. labor market; the same is true now,” he noted.
So far in 2024, there have been 198 layoff announcements at tech companies affecting 43,719 workers, according to trueup.io, a company that tracks headcount reductions in the industry.
PayPal shares declined 1.5% to $62.69 at 1:49 p.m. ET. They are down 23% in the past year.