Online retailer Wayfair has laid off 13 percent of its global workforce and 19 percent of its corporate team.
Driving the news: Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah announced the layoffs on Friday, saying the move will save the company over $280 million annually.
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- Around 1,650 employees have been affected by the layoffs.
- This news comes shortly after Shah made headlines for advising employees to be frugal and open to working long hours in an end-of-year message obtained by Business Insider.
- Wayfair previously laid off 5% of its workforce in 2022 due to difficulties in maintaining momentum after the pandemic.
- Despite the layoffs, the company reported a 3.7% increase in sales for the quarter ending September 30, 2022, compared to the previous year.
- Wayfair’s third-quarter net loss of $163 million was 42% lower than the net loss of $238 million in the same quarter of 2022.
What they’re saying: Shah said in a press release that Wayfair plans to rebuild certain roles over the course of the year.
- “While today’s actions will bolster our Adjusted EBITDA roadmap, I am increasingly focused on generating Adjusted EBITDA in excess of equity-based compensation as well as capital expenditures, and intend to drive meaningful improvements here quickly,” Shah said. “We believe that what matters is maximizing our Free Cash Flow while simultaneously tightly controlling and ultimately reducing total share count, and are treating this as our north star.”
- Shah added, “To our colleagues departing Wayfair, I want to thank you for your incredible contributions to Wayfair and to our customers. You have so much to be proud of. I truly regret the impact this will have on you.”
