PayPal to lay off 2,000 workers or 7% of staff

CNN: PayPal said Tuesday it plans to lay off about 2,000 employees or roughly 7 percent of its staff, making it the latest tech firm to announce significant job cuts in recent months amid broader economic uncertainty. 

In a memo to staff announcing the layoffs, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman referred to the “challenging macro-economic environment” and said the company “must continue to change as our world, our customers and our competitive landscape evolve”.  Much of the tech industry is cutting costs in response to a shift in pandemic-fuelled demand for digital services and economic headwinds, including rising interest rates and fears of a looming recession. 

In January alone, Microsoft, Google-parent Alphabet and Salesforce each announced plans to cut thousands of workers.

Shares of PayPal are down more than 50 percent over the past year. 

In his memo, Schulman said reductions would occur over the coming weeks and departing workers would be provided with “generous” severance packages. “I want to express my personal appreciation for the meaningful contributions they have made to PayPal,” Schulman said of the employees being let go.