Etsy to cut nearly 25% of jobs as losses grow

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jun 23, 2017

After indicating it would axe 80 jobs in early May, Etsy, the website specialised in hand-made and vintage articles, announced today a new wave of dismissals, affecting in excess of 140 jobs. The US website is therefore set to cut a total of nearly 230 jobs, equivalent to 22% of the workforce that was operational at the end of 2016.

The dismissals will chiefly affect the administration, marketing and product departments. The company's woes demonstrate how fragile mid-sized pure players like Etsy are, when faced with competition from generalist giants such as Amazon, eBay, Craigslist and, more recently, even Facebook.

In early May, Etsy heralded the arrival of a new CEO, after reporting disappointing quarterly results. At the time, Etsy was under attack by Black and White Capital, a speculative investment fund which owns nearly 2% of its capital and is keen for Etsy to be sold.

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In 2016, Etsy's sales grew by 19% to $2.8 billion (€2.6 billion), while its income rose 33.4%, to $365 million (€344.7 million). In the last quarter, adjusted EBITDA reached $15.3 million (+8.7%), but at the same time net losses went from $4.2 million to $21.4 million.