Despite experiencing significant growth in 2023, PayPal is set to lay off nine percent of its workforce, impacting approximately 2,500 employees, according to a letter from CEO Alex Chriss. The announcement comes a year after a significant reduction of more than 2,000 jobs to manage costs.
The tech industry has continued to see layoffs into 2024, with significant job loss at companies like Google, Discord, eBay, Riot Games, TikTok, Microsoft, iRobot, Amazon, Unity, and Duolingo, as well as Jack Dorsey’s Block, which owns Cash App, Foundational, and Square.
Although PayPal pioneered the online payment industry, competitors like Zelle and tech giants like Apple have significantly increased the competition. Bloomberg reports that this has led to the downgrading of PayPal’s stock by four analysts so far in January alone.
Despite this, PayPal has seen robust growth, particularly in 2023, with revenue of $7.42 billion as of September—an over eight percent increase from the previous year. Transactions on the platform also saw double-digit growth. Chriss, having taken over as CEO in September 2023, has however noted that high costs are creating a drag on progress.
He assured in his letter that the company will continue investing in areas that are anticipated to generate and expedite growth.
