PayPal Laying Off 9 Percent of Global Workforce as Tech Layoffs Continue

Layoffs at the online payments system company come as more than 28,000 other jobs have been cut by tech firms already this year.

A sign is posted in front of PayPal headquarters in San Jose, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2022. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Online payment firm PayPal is slashing its global workforce by approximately 9 percent this year—amounting to roughly 2,500 job losses—as it becomes the latest tech company to announce layoffs.

Alex Chriss, president and CEO of the firm, announced the cuts in a message first shared internally with employees on Jan. 30.

The same message was published on PayPal’s official website shortly after the market closed.

Mr. Chriss told employees that the “difficult” job cuts are part of PayPal’s efforts to “build a growth organization” and unlock its “true potential.”

The cuts will “right-size” the tech giant while simultaneously allowing it to “move with the speed needed to deliver” for its customers and “drive profitable growth,” he said.

PayPal—which employed about 29,900 people at the end of 2022, according to the company—will eliminate both vacant positions and open roles as part of the layoffs.

“During the last few months, I have spent as much time as possible with as many of you as possible to learn about our company’s great strengths, as well as where we need to move faster, where we need to change, and what we need to do to instill a culture of innovation that returns our company to the true position of strength it deserves,” Mr. Chriss said.

“While I have been encouraged by the innovation our team is delivering, we must execute faster and ensure we are focused on solving our customers’ most critical needs and problems.”

Some Jobs to Be Automated

Mr. Chriss noted that some of the job roles within PayPal will also be automated as part of cost-cutting efforts in 2024, which he called the “year of change.”

Last week, the company stated that it planned to push a string of new products driven by artificial intelligence (AI), including AI-powered recommendations aimed at helping merchants reach new customers based on their prior shopping history and AI-powered insights that will optimize the checkout experience for consumers.

In his message to employees, Mr. Chriss said that PayPal needs to “drive more focus and efficiency, deploy automation,” and consolidate its technology to “reduce complexity and duplication.”

“We have started on that journey, but there is a lot of work to do, and 2024 marks a year of change, including some difficult but necessary decisions to get us to where we need to go,” he said.

Employees set to lose their jobs at PayPal will be notified by the end of the week, according to Mr. Chriss.

“These decisions were not easy to make, and we are undertaking these actions with tremendous care and consideration,” he said.

Employees set to lose their jobs will go through a consultation process, the CEO noted.

“True to our values, we will support our employees’ transitions with the utmost respect, support, and compassion,” he said.

Paypal’s shares were down by 0.13 percent after the announcement, which came exactly a year after the tech giant stated that it was then laying off 7 percent of its workforce—about 2,000 employees—amid an economic slowdown.

Tech Layoffs Continue

The latest layoffs come as a string of tech firms have already announced cuts to their global workforce this year, including e-commerce giant eBay, which plans to slash 1,000 full-time employees because of “external pressures” and a challenging macroeconomic environment.

The logo of Amazon at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, France, on Jan. 5, 2023. Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

Amazon also stated in early January that it would let go of hundreds of its Prime Video employees, as well as staff of its subsidiary MGM Studios and its live-streaming platform Twitch as part of cost-cutting efforts.

Google is cutting thousands of jobs, including at YouTube, as part of what it says are “responsible investing” efforts, while Microsoft confirmed last week that it is laying off 1,900 employees, roughly one year after the company cut 10,000 from its workforce.

A total of 107 tech companies have laid off 29,375 employees so far in 2024, according to data from tech layoff tracker website Layoffs.fyi

PayPal’s fourth-quarter earnings report will be released next week.

Reuters contributed to this report.