EBay Cuts ‘Low Single-Digit Percentage’ of Global Workforce

(Bloomberg) -- EBay Inc. trimmed its global workforce, potentially by several hundred employees, as part of a routine refocusing of the online marketplace’s priorities.

The San Jose, California-based company cut a “low single-digit percentage” of its staff, a spokeswoman said in an email, without giving a specific number. “We are sharpening our focus on priority initiatives," and aligning the workforce to match them, she said.

EBay had 14,100 employees as of the end of December 2017, according to filings. The cuts come as Chief Executive Officer Devin Wenig works to revive the 23-year-old e-commerce pioneer’s fortunes by diversifying the customer base and rebranding the platform as a place for people to discover new products, in contrast to Amazon.com Inc., where shoppers head when they already have a specific product in mind.

--With assistance from Spencer Soper and Jodi Schneider.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gerrit De Vynck in New York at gdevynck@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr

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