PayPal to cut down workforce by 9% in coming weeks

Earlier this week, PayPal announced that it will reduce its workforce by around 9%, following in the footsteps of other major tech companies, such as Amazon and eBay, that have also downsized in the first month of the new year.

According to CNN Business, PayPal's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alex Chriss explained that the layoffs are necessary to drive the company forward with new technology.

In a letter to his staff on Tuesday, Chriss emphasised the need for increased focus and efficiency, automation deployment, and technology consolidation to "reduce complexity and duplication" across the organisation.

Other tech companies like eBay, Google and Amazon have also announced their plans for layoffs due to the current macroeconomic environment.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai kicked off the new year by warning of further layoffs ahead. Last week, eBay said it would lay off 1,000 employees, or about 9% of its staff.

Moreover, Amazon is set to cut hundreds of jobs, including at Twitch. Meanwhile, Duolingo laid off around 10% of its contract workers as it moved to rely more heavily on artificial intelligence (AI).

According to Layoffs.fyi, as of Tuesday afternoon, 98 tech companies have already laid off over 25,000 employees in 2024 alone.

Last year, over 262,595 layoffs were reported in more than 1,100 companies, according to the database.