eBay job cuts
January 22, 2015
eBay reported it would have to cut 2,400 jobs in the current quarter, amounting to 7 percent of its total workforce.
The California-based company unveiled the move even as it announced its profit in the fourth quarter of 2014 rose to $963 million (806 million euros) on $4.9 billion in revenue.
"We are on the right strategic path, and we're acting decisively and aggressively as we position [the company] for success," CEO John Donahoe said in reference to the firm's plan to spin off its PayPal finance unit into an independent company.
"The job cuts are necessary to simplify the organization, reduce complexity, speed decision-making and create competitive cost structures," Donahoe argued.
Not enough synergies
In a further move to refocus, eBay said it would likely also shed its Enterprise division responsible for creating online sites for traditional retailers.
Enterprise was seen as a strong business, but "it has become clear that it has limited synergies with other divisions and a separation would allow both to focus exclusively on core markets as we create two independent world-class companies."
eBay noted it had made big strides in boosting sales to customers using mobile devices, with mobile payments growing to $45.6 billion for the whole of 2014, representing 20 percent of total sales volume.
hg/sgb (dpa, AFP)