In order to reprioritize investment demands and address the company’s immediate needs, Wayfair, an online retailer of home goods, said today that it will be laying off close to 900 workers. The corporation had already declared a hiring freeze in May.
According to SEC filings, the layoffs affect 400 employees at the company’s headquarters in Boston, which accounts for close to 5% of the company’s worldwide workforce and 10% of its corporate team.
“We were witnessing the tailwinds of the epidemic drive the adoption of e-commerce shopping, and I personally pushed hard to build a great team to support that development,” the company’s founder and CEO Niraj Shah wrote in a note to staff. “This year’s increase has not occurred as quickly as we had hoped. Unfortunately, we must adapt since our staff is too big for the situation we are in.
It’s unclear whose teams the layoffs especially impacted. TechCrunch contacted Wayfair, but the firm directed the publication to their message.
According to their location and duration, those who are fired will get a severance payout. The corporation states that in addition to other resources, such as outplacement assistance, U.S.-based workers will get a minimum of 10 paid weeks.
According to the Boston-based Corporation, employee severance will account for the majority of the $30–$40 million in layoff expenses. The company’s current quarter will see the impact of the damage, according to the SEC filing.
In order to determine our own destiny and continue making aggressive investments in the future, Shah stated, “We are actively driving Wayfair towards a level of profitability.” “We’ve organized our tasks into priority lists and established clear objectives: to concentrate on the essentials, promote cost effectiveness, and increase supplier and customer loyalty. Our perception of the scale of the opportunity that lies ahead is unaffected by the microenvironment, and we are taking deliberate steps to take advantage of it.
The business made money during the first two years of the COVID-19 epidemic, which was reflected in its shares, but it has subsequently suffered. The shares of Wayfair decreased by more than 17% on Friday morning, according to The Wall Street Journal.
