E-commerce company Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah lays off 870 people

NEW YORK: E-commerce company Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah has fired 870 people, or 5 per cent of the company's global workforce, as growth it anticipated has not materialised this year.

In a memo, Shah said that the US-based company was "seeing the tailwinds of the pandemic accelerate the adoption of ecommerce shopping, and I personally pushed hard to hire a strong team to support that growth".

"This year, that growth has not materialized as we had anticipated. Our team is too large for the environment we are now in, and unfortunately we need to adjust," he wrote.

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late on Friday, the online furniture provider said that on August 19, 2022, "Wayfair announced a workforce reduction involving approximately 870 employees in connection with its previously announced plans to manage operating expenses and realign investment priorities".

"This reduction represents approximately 5 per cent of our global workforce and approximately 10 per cent of our corporate team,a said the company.

The company is also in the process of making substantial reductions in its third party labour costs.

In the company's second-quarter results reported earlier this month, Wayfair saw about 15 per cent loss in net revenue compared to its earnings in 2021.

In February 2020, reports surfaced that Wayfair laid off about 550 workers, with Shah blaming Wayfair's "rapid pursuit of growth", saying that it "had its drawbacks".

In May this year, Wayfair announced a hiring freeze that would last 90 days, reports The Verge,

E-commerce company Shopify recently laid off 1,000 employees while Peloton announced that it would lay off 800 employees.