PayPal began company-wide layoff on Tuesday, the latest tech company to cut jobs, as a newly appointed CEO looks to cut costs and improve profits.
PayPal’s human resources team told staffers in a meeting of layoff plans, described as part of a cost-reduction effort, according to an employee who was in the meeting. The layoffs affected people across multiple teams, including engineering and research and development, according to LinkedIn posts from employees who were laid off.
The Takeaway
- PayPal became the latest tech firm to lay people off on Thursday, as part of an effort by the new CEO to cut costs.
A PayPal spokesperson declined to comment.
PayPal CEO Alex Chriss, who joined the company in September, has said cutting costs is a priority, noting in a November earnings call that PayPal’s costs were “too high” and “slowing us down.”
Since the beginning of this year, a slew of major tech firms have conducted rounds of layoffs, including Amazon, Microsoft and Meta Platforms. Google laid off more than 1,000 people across hardware, ad sales and Google Assistant. CEO Sundar Pichai said that there will be more cuts to come through the rest of 2024, The Information previously reported. Smaller companies have also reduced their teams, including Discord, Brex and Flexport.
PayPal, which owns Venmo, Xoom and Honey, has focused on launching new products and redesigning the checkout experience to make PayPal more competitive with rivals like Stripe and Apple Pay. Last week, PayPal announced a handful of new initiatives, including one-click checkout and a redesigned consumer app, which The Information first reported last year.
Late last year, the company announced a number of executive changes, including a new chief people officer, chief technology officer and chief financial officer. It is unclear if today’s layoffs affected senior roles at the company.