Ebay "deteriorating" - mass layoffs expected Any offers? By Sylvie Barak: Monday, 15 September 2008, 2:08 PM EBAY WORKERS may be in for a shock they didnât bargain for, with a report claiming the firm is floundering and preparing to lay off about 10 per cent of the company's 15,000 employees. According to an article in Barron's Weekly which cited a recent report by investment-boffins at Wedge Partners, the online auction giantâs business is " deteriorating". Current economic hardships - especially weakness in the consumer economy- added to the fact that quite a few Ebay sellers have been severely hacked off by recent changes in fee structures has put Ebay in a tight spot. "Seller discontent with eEbay is on the rise due to higher fees and other changes, and we believe Ebay has seen numerous sellers migrating away from the Ebay platform and creating their own selling sites," wrote Brian Blair and Ryan Hunter, two Wedge analysts. To add salt to Ebayâs wounds, because about 50 per cent of the firmâs revenues come from outside the U.S., the auction giantâs finances are set for another beating as the dollar continues to strengthen. "We don't have a handle on how much of the slowdown is due to economic conditions and how much is due to competition and execution, but we do believe a decline in these key metrics presents continued risk for the company" wrote Blair and Hunter, adding that gross merchandise volume for the third quarter could be well down from the $15.7 billion level reported in the second quarter. âEBay shares are down approximately 30 per cent this year, trading near their lowest level in five years" the report continues, noting that 1500 jobs in the company are at immediate risk. The company is apparently also taking a huge risk with a soon-to-be-released search platform currently being tested. At the end of the day, however, no matter how much Ebay suffers in the short term, it's really the employees who may be sold short. µ
15K employees!! for a site that is pretty much a few servers in a rack? I mean all ebay does is facilitate auctions. I mean 15K is more than even backoffices in wallstreet. Chop headcount to 800 and that is a good high number.
1500 is peanuts. HP/EDS to cut 25000 jobs. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/15/hp_eds_restructure_plan/
I agree with with King. Holy bloated payroll batman, 15k employees for a web / net firm?? Seems like Ebay could likely be successful with 1,000 to 2,000 employees. They SHOULD be doing layoffs and streamlining business practices. At least it sounds like they have a good deal of fat to cut before they hit bone. I am sorry for the jobs though. Been there, done and don't like that!
Apparently it takes 15,000 employees to develop the critical mass needed to drive out loyal sellers & customers And why did they pay all that money for Skype...? [and by the way, that is what I said when they first bought them.]