Employers
eBay plans to cut about 9% of its workforce, its second round of job reductions this year, according to an internal memo from Chief Executive Jamie Iannone that was reviewed by Reuters. An eBay spokesperson confirmed the layoffs to Reuters on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
“As part of these changes, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by approximately 9%,” Iannone wrote, according to the memo as quoted by the e-commerce news site Value Added Resource. Reuters reported that the cuts are meant to simplify operations and shift resources toward the company’s fastest-growing areas, and that affected employees will be told “in the coming days.”
What eBay has and has not said
The percentage is the only workforce figure eBay has confirmed. The company has not disclosed how many positions will be eliminated, which teams or locations are affected, what severance will be offered, or what the cuts will cost. As of Wednesday, eBay had not filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission describing the reduction, and no restructuring charge had been announced.
Reuters estimated the cut at roughly 1,100 jobs. That figure is the news agency’s calculation, based on the roughly 12,300 people eBay employed at the end of last year, and it is not a number eBay has provided. eBay’s annual report says that as of Dec. 31, 2025, about 7,200 of those 12,300 employees were in the United States. Because the company also cut staff in February, its current headcount, and therefore the exact size of a 9% reduction, has not been made public.
According to Value Added Resource, a spokesperson said the reductions are meant to let eBay “continue to operate from a position of strength by aligning our teams and resources with our top strategic priorities.” In the memo, Reuters reported, Iannone told employees “Our strategy is working” and said the company has to make thoughtful choices about where it focuses and invests.
A second round in 2026
In February, eBay cut about 6% of its workforce, or roughly 800 employees, to streamline operations, Reuters reported. Value Added Resource reported that those cuts hit engineering, development, payments and finance roles at California offices. In its first-quarter filing, eBay attributed part of a rise in general and administrative expenses to $104 million of restructuring costs and executive bonuses, a figure the company reported as a combined amount.
The new cuts come while the business is growing. eBay reported second-quarter revenue of $3.1 billion and gross merchandise volume of $22.4 billion on Aug. 5, both up 15% from a year earlier on an as-reported basis, and raised its full-year outlook. The company completed its acquisition of Depop, a fashion resale marketplace popular with younger shoppers, on July 30. Reuters valued that deal at $1.4 billion.
eBay has also faced takeover pressure. In May, GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen made an unsolicited $56 billion bid for the company, which eBay rejected as “neither credible nor attractive,” Reuters reported. eBay has not said whether that episode played any role in the restructuring.
Reuters said eBay shares were down 1.8% in premarket trading Wednesday after gaining nearly 40% this year. The company is scheduled to report third-quarter results next week.
What it means for workers
For eBay employees, the immediate question is who is affected, and the company has said only that notifications will come in the coming days. For the wider tech and e-commerce job market, the cuts come from a company that reported rising sales and framed the move as a reallocation of resources, not a response to falling demand. No connection to artificial intelligence or automation was cited in the memo excerpts or the company statement reviewed. Until eBay discloses locations, any layoff notices filed with state workforce agencies would be the first public record of where the cuts land.
Sources
- Reuters via BNN Bloomberg, “Reuters exclusive: EBay to lay off 9% of workforce, internal memo shows,” October 21, 2026. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/company-news/2026/10/21/reuters-exclusive-ebay-to-lay-off-9-of-workforce-internal-memo-shows/
- Value Added Resource, “eBay Cuts 9% Of Workforce In Second Major Round Of Layoffs This Year,” October 21, 2026. https://www.valueaddedresource.net/ebay-layoffs-october-2026/
- eBay Inc., Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, filed February 19, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1065088/000106508826000027/ebay-20251231.htm
- eBay Inc., Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, filed April 29, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1065088/000106508826000093/ebay-20260331.htm
- eBay Inc., “eBay Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results” (Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1), August 5, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1065088/000106508826000174/exhibit991erebayq22026.htm
Featured photo: eBay's headquarters in San Jose, California, photographed May 6, 2018. Photo: Coolcaesar, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Cropped from the original.
