Wayfair announces 1,650 layoffs, eliminating 13% of workforce

Home goods and furniture retailer Wayfair announced layoffs affecting 1,650 employees on Friday as it looks to right-size its workforce following a pandemic-fueled hiring spree.

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The cuts will reduce the Boston-based company’s global workforce by 13%, WFXT reported.

In a letter sent to employees and published Friday, Wayfair co-founder and CEO Niraj Shah said the job cuts were part of efforts started in 2022 to make the company leaner and more focused amid the “bust period” that followed Wayfair’s massive growth during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Although we’ve taken important steps to get ourselves optimized to win and fit for the future, the reality is they have not gotten us to where we need to be, which is to have a clean organizational model that provides a healthy foundation to grow from,” he said.

“That’s why I pushed forward with an org design effort driven by some core organizational principles. As a result of this effort, I have made the difficult decision to further reduce our headcount today.”

The job cuts impacted employees in North America and Europe, with notifications going out by Friday. Affected employees will be offered severance and support as they look for their next roles, Shah said.

The decision came after Wayfair laid off nearly 900 people in 2022 and about 1,700 in 2023, according to WFXT and The Wall Street Journal.

“I think the reality is that we went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period and veered away from our core principles, and while we have come quite far back to them, we are not quite there,” Shah said. “The best way to make sure everyone in the company can thrive and that we can do the most for our customers is to make sure that we make the right decision in terms of what our go-forward organization should look like.”

About 20% of the layoffs will affect the company’s corporate team, CNN reported. In total, the move is expected to save Wayfair about $280 million each year, according to the news network.

The cuts were announced about a month after Shah told employees in a year-end memo that they should be open to working longer hours, Business Insider reported.

“Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from,” he wrote, according to the financial news site. “There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success.”

Department store chain Macy’s also announced layoffs on Thursday affecting about 2,350 roles.

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