PayPal Holdings Inc. plans a new round of layoffs as it continues its efforts to cut costs.
The company intends to reduce its workforce by 9% through a mix of layoffs and elimination of some open roles over the course of this year, PayPal
PYPL,
Chief Executive Alex Chriss said Tuesday in a letter to staff that was reviewed by MarketWatch.
“We are doing this to right-size our business, allowing us to move with the speed needed to deliver for our customers and drive profitable growth,” Chriss said in the note. “At the same time, we will continue to invest in areas of the business we believe will create and accelerate growth.”
PayPal had 29,900 employees as of the end of 2022, according to its most recent 10-K, which was put out almost a year ago. The company cut its workforce by 7% last winter under Dan Schulman, PayPal’s former CEO.
Shares of PayPal have been under pressure in recent years, declining 61% over a two-year span and falling 79% from their July 2021 all-time high of $308.53. Chriss, who took over as CEO in September, has discussed the need for PayPal to become leaner and focus on its strengths.
See also: PayPal CEO sees ‘huge monetization opportunity’ after revamp, but stock drops
“What I would say overall is we have lots of opportunities, but we’re doing too many things,” he said in November on PayPal’s last earnings call. “We’re spread too thin. And we have an opportunity to focus the organization on what matters the most, on the most impactful opportunities to customers and to growing the business, and we’ll be looking at that over time.”
He said in Tuesday’s note that he was looking to “instill a culture of innovation that returns our company to the true position of strength it deserves.”
The company plans to notify affected employees of their status by the end of the week.
Shares were near flat in Tuesday afternoon action.
