• PayPal has announced that it will be letting go of 2 500 employees to start the new year.
• The figure represents 9 percent of its current workforce.
• The new layoffs come nearly one year after PayPal cut the jobs of 2 000 workers in 2023.

The start of 2024 has proved a particularly tough one for those working in the technology industry, as once again mass layoffs have dominated the news. The latest company to announce a decrease in its workforce is PayPal, with it expected to lay off as many as 2 500 employees.

This set of layoffs come nearly a full year after PayPal announced a reduction at the beginning of 2023, with 2 000 employees being let go. This latest round represents 9 percent of its existing workforce, and comes in the same week that the company said it would be investing in and leveraging generative AI for its products.

“Today, I am writing to share the difficult news that we will be reducing our global workforce by approximately 9% through both direct reductions and the elimination of open roles over the course of the year. We are doing this to right-size our business, allowing us to move with the speed needed to deliver for our customers and drive profitable growth. At the same time, we will continue to invest in areas of the business we believe will create and accelerate growth,” wrote president and CEO, Alex Chriss, in a press release directed to staff.

“If your role is included in this workforce reduction, you will be notified between today and the end of the week. These decisions were not easy to make, and we are undertaking these actions with tremendous care and consideration,” he added in an attempt to convey a sense of solace.

As for what this means for existing employees remains to be seen, but like many other tech companies, it looks like PayPal will look to its current workforce to pick up the slack resulting from the impending job cuts.

“PayPal has significant potential to create substantial value for our employees, our customers, and shareholders. Over the next year, we will work together to maximize our reach, scale, and resources, so that we can have an even greater impact for the customers we serve,” Chriss concluded.

As we have remarked on several occasions this month already, this will not be the last time that a tech company announces mass layoffs as we kick off the new year.

[Image – Photo by Muhammad Asyfaul on Unsplash]