eBay Cuts 1,000 Jobs in Second Round of Layoffs This Year

By James Calloway

eBay is cutting more than 1,000 jobs — 9% of its global workforce — in its second round of layoffs this year, a company spokesperson confirmed Wednesday.

The cuts hit every region where the marketplace operates. They come on top of 800 roles eliminated in February, bringing total announced job losses in 2025 to roughly 1,800.

What did eBay say about the layoffs?

The rationale is thin. eBay said the move helps "further its goals" and framed it as strategic alignment.

"Yesterday we shared the difficult news that we plan to reduce a portion of our workforce. As we work to capture the significant opportunity ahead, this step was taken to ensure we continue to operate from a position of strength by aligning our teams and resources with our top strategic priorities," a company spokesperson said in an email to Retail Dive Wednesday. "We are grateful for the contributions of these colleagues, and are committed to supporting them through this transition with care and respect."

That's the full explanation. No cost targets, no restructuring charge, no timeline beyond the announcement itself.

Where is the strategy pointing?

The layoffs track a strategy CEO Jamie Iannone laid out during an August conference call with analysts. The marketplace is betting on three pillars:

• Focus categories like collectibles
• Consumer-to-consumer sales
• Preowned and refurbished items

Those three areas drove more than 70% of eBay's gross merchandise volume in Q2, Iannone told analysts.

The timing is notable. February's 800-role cut landed just after eBay announced its $1.4 billion acquisition of U.K. secondhand marketplace Depop from Etsy. That deal closed over the summer.

How healthy is the business behind the cuts?

Financially, eBay isn't cutting from a position of distress. Q2 numbers beat UBS and other analyst expectations:

• Revenue up 15% to $3.1 billion
• GMV up 15% to $22.4 billion
• Net income from continuing operations up more than 50% to $552 million

And that's after absorbing the $1.4 billion Depop purchase.

The year hasn't been spotless. In April, eBay scrambled to fix technical hiccups that took its site down entirely at some points. The impact was likely minimal, though — executives didn't discuss the glitch during their August call.

On the AI front, Morgan Stanley analysts rank eBay among the winners. In a report last month, the bank listed Amazon and eBay as best positioned for "partnering with next generation horizontal platform agents." That's an edge few legacy marketplaces can claim.

What comes next?

eBay reports Q3 results next week. Investors will be watching for whether the 9% headcount reduction shows up in margin guidance — or whether the cuts signal spending ahead on the focus categories and AI positioning Iannone has staked the company on.