EBay Cutting 1,600 Jobs, 10 Percent of Work Force

FONT SIZE

EMAIL

PRINT

SHARE

RSS

John Donahoe, eBay President and Chief Executive Officer delivers the keynote address during the...

John Donahoe, eBay President and Chief Executive Officer delivers the keynote address during the annual meeting of shareholders and auction sellers in Chicago, Illinois, in this file photo. EBay Inc., which still reaps big profits but has been struggling to attract new users, said Monday it will cut about 1,000 jobs in an attempt to streamline its business.

(Frank Polich/Reuters)

After a series of changes designed to draw more people to its online marketplace, eBay Inc.'s latest alteration is aimed at its own employees. The auction site operator said Monday it will cut about 1,600 jobs, 10 percent of its work force, in its largest round of dismissals ever.

About 1,000 full-time employees will be gone, while eBay will achieve the rest of the cuts by letting temporary and part-time workers go and by leaving open positions unfilled. EBay would not describe which positions would be cut, other than to say they will come across the company and around the world.

EBay Chief Executive John Donahoe said in an interview that the cuts were not a reaction to the weak economy. Investors were still disheartened, sending eBay shares to a 5 1/2-year low.

Related

'Where Your Shopping Shapes the World'

Man Nets $2M in Auction of His Life

New eBay Rules Frustrate Sellers

Donahoe, who took over as CEO from Meg Whitman in March, said eBay's leadership had been thinking about making the cuts since midsummer. The moves will make eBay "more responsive and nimble," he said, and will give it an opportunity to reinvest in growth areas like its online payments service PayPal and its classified-ads business — both of which eBay augmented with acquisitions announced Monday.

"This is trying to position our company in the right way for the medium to longer term. I would say it is not a reaction to the short-term macro environment, or short-term pressures," Donahoe said.

EBay anticipates $70 million to $80 million in restructuring charges related to the job cuts, mostly in the fourth quarter. The company said the cuts will result in $150 million in annual cost savings.

This round of cuts is eBay's second this year. The company said in March that it would cut 125 positions in Europe and North America, including 70 jobs at its San Jose, Calif. headquarters.

Pacific Crest Securities analyst Steve Weinstein praised eBay for "taking proactive steps" that reflect "the challenging environment they're in." But he also lamented that the cuts indicate how much trouble eBay is having at igniting growth in its core business.