E-commerce company to reduce workforce by 6% after announcing $1.2 billion acquisition
eBay Inc. is eliminating about 800 positions, the latest in a series of workforce cuts rippling through the U.S. technology sector.
The San Jose–based e‑commerce company said Thursday that the reductions amount to roughly 6% of its full‑time workforce and are part of an effort to realign staffing with longer‑term strategic priorities.
In a statement, the company said: “We are taking steps to reinvest across our business and align our structure with our strategic priorities, which will affect certain roles across our workforce. We are grateful for the contributions of the employees impacted and are committed to supporting them with care and respect.”
The cuts follow eBay’s announcement last week that it would acquire Depop, a secondhand fashion marketplace popular with Gen Z shoppers, for about $1.2 billion in cash.
A third round of cuts in three years
For eBay employees, the latest reductions are part of a longer story. The company has now announced three rounds of layoffs in as many years, each time citing the need to streamline operations and reset its cost base.
In early 2023, eBay cut about 500 roles, roughly 4% of its staff at the time, as it adjusted to a slowdown in post‑pandemic online spending. That was followed in early 2024 by a reduction of around 1,000 jobs, or about 9% of its workforce, tied to labor costs that the company said were outpacing growth.
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The new round of 800 job cuts comes even as the marketplace posted full‑year 2025 revenue of $11.1 billion, up 8% from the prior year, and reported that gross merchandise volume - the value of goods sold on the platform - rose 7% year over year to $79.6 billion.
eBay said it plans to continue hiring in key areas, suggesting the company is reallocating rather than simply shrinking its workforce.
Another link in the tech layoff chain
The move drops eBay onto a widening list of tech and tech‑adjacent employers announcing significant U.S. job cuts in early 2026. Amazon has disclosed plans to eliminate around 16,000 corporate roles after prior rounds that cut about 14,000 positions. Citi has outlined a multiyear plan to trim 20,000 jobs. Other brands ranging from Meta and Workday to Nike, Pinterest and Target have all announced layoffs or position reductions this year, many citing efficiency gains from AI, restructuring or “strategic focus” as key drivers.
eBay has not publicly detailed which functions, locations or job families are most affected in the 800‑role reduction, nor how severance and outplacement will be structured.
Lessons for HR leaders in a rolling layoff cycle
With tech layoffs continuing into 2026, HR executives in the U.S. face a different challenge from the mass reductions of early‑pandemic or 2022–23 vintage. Rather than a single, severe shock, the current environment is characterized by rolling restructurings - targeted cuts, business‑line closures and constant portfolio reshaping.
In such a cycle, the bar is higher for how organizations explain the “why now” behind each decision. eBay’s framing - tying cuts to “strategic priorities” while continuing to hire elsewhere - is increasingly common. For employees, however, the distinction between a cost‑cutting layoff and a strategic one matters less than whether they see a plausible plan for growth and a credible message about their own future.
