eBay lays off 1,000 employees, about 9 percent of full-time workforce

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Justin Sullivan )

eBay is laying off approximately 1,000 employees in a move that reduces its full-time workforce by 9 percent, the company announced yesterday. eBay also plans "to scale back the number of contracts we have within our alternate workforce over the coming months," CEO Jamie Iannone wrote in a message to staff that was titled, "Ensuring eBay's Long-Term Success."

Iannone cited "the challenging macroeconomic environment" and said that eBay has too many employees. "While we are making progress against our strategy, our overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business," he wrote.

eBay asked all US-based employees to work from home on Wednesday "to provide some space and privacy" for conversations in which laid-off employees were to be given the bad news. The 1,000 layoffs come nearly one year after eBay eliminated 500 employees.