eBay to Cut About 9% of Workforce in Second Layoff Round This Year
eBay plans to cut about 9% of its staff, roughly 1,000 jobs, in its second round of layoffs in 2026, a week before it reports third-quarter results.
eBay, the online marketplace, plans to eliminate about 9% of its workforce in its second round of job cuts this year. Chief Executive Jamie Iannone told employees the company needs to narrow where it focuses and invests, even though, in his words, its strategy is working. CNBC put the cut at about 1,000 employees. The announcement comes a week before eBay reports third-quarter earnings.
What happened
Iannone told staff about the cuts in an internal memo on Tuesday evening, Reuters reported after obtaining a copy. The trade publication Value Added Resource, which covers eBay closely, quoted the memo as saying the company had “made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by approximately 9%.” Iannone said employees whose jobs are affected would hear “in the coming days.”
Value Added Resource also quoted the memo as saying, “Our strategy is working and continuing to capture the significant opportunity ahead.” The outlet described the restructuring as a way to simplify operations, sharpen priorities and move resources toward areas with more room to grow.
An eBay spokesperson said in an emailed statement, according to Bloomberg, that the step lines up “our teams and resources with our top strategic priorities” and was meant to make sure the company continues “to operate from a position of strength.” The company also said it will keep hiring in areas that fit its strategy, the San Joaquin Valley Sun reported.
eBay has not said which teams, offices or countries will be hit hardest. It also has not said whether any of the roles will be moved elsewhere.
How many jobs are involved
Reports differ somewhat on the scale. CNBC reported about 1,000 jobs. Bloomberg’s report gave only the percentage. The San Joaquin Valley Sun said eBay had about 12,300 employees at the end of 2025. On that base, 1,000 jobs would be closer to 8% than 9%, which suggests the percentage was calculated against a different or more recent headcount. eBay has not published an exact number.
Early market reaction was muted. Bloomberg said eBay shares fell sharply in premarket trading and then recovered to roughly unchanged. The San Joaquin Valley Sun reported the stock was up about 1% on the day.
Why it matters
The new cuts follow a February round in which eBay said it would eliminate about 800 jobs, or roughly 6% of its staff at the time. According to Value Added Resource, that round hit engineering, payments and finance roles at California offices. Some affected workers said their jobs were moving overseas. eBay also cut staff in early 2023 and early 2024, Bloomberg noted, so this is the company’s fourth straight year of layoffs.
The business itself has been growing. In the second quarter, gross merchandise volume, meaning the total value of goods sold on the platform, reached $22.4 billion, Value Added Resource reported. Revenue came to $3.1 billion. Both figures were up 15% from a year earlier.
eBay has also been spending on expansion. In July it completed its roughly $1.4 billion purchase of Depop, a secondhand fashion app popular with younger shoppers, from the crafts marketplace Etsy. Bloomberg reported the deal is meant to help eBay compete with Vinted, a Lithuanian resale platform that is growing in the United States. In August, eBay said the deal would cost $200 million more than first announced, according to Bloomberg, which could weigh on third-quarter results.
At an investor conference in September, Iannone and Chief Financial Officer Peggy Alford named the company’s main growth areas, according to Value Added Resource:
- Consumer-to-consumer selling
- Artificial intelligence tools
- eBay Live, its live-stream shopping feature
- Vehicles and auto parts
Pressure from GameStop
The layoffs also come under outside pressure. In May, GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen made an unsolicited takeover proposal for eBay worth about $56 billion. Value Added Resource reported that the plan called for about $2 billion in annual cost cuts, including in sales and marketing, product development and administration. eBay’s board rejected the offer. GameStop has since raised its stake in eBay to about 9.8%, the outlet said.
In a May interview cited by Value Added Resource, Cohen argued that the business “does not require 11-and-a-half-thousand employees.” eBay has not said whether GameStop’s push had any part in the latest restructuring.
What comes next
eBay is scheduled to report third-quarter results on October 28. Investors will be watching for the cost of the job cuts, how Depop is affecting results and whether management changes its outlook. More details on which locations are affected are expected as employees are notified over the coming days.
