Wayfair has announced plans to lay off 1,000 employees in an effort to cut operational cost. The decision comes after the online furniture retailer announced in August that it would be laying off around 870 employees, due to a decrease in demand for furniture and home decor following the pandemic.
The shares of Wayfair have dropped by about 75% in the last 12 months, despite the fact that the company’s income had risen dramatically in the early phase of the pandemic when US consumers were spending money on home improvements.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the decision will affect around 5 per cent of its workforce. This makes Wayfair the latest company to join a growing list of American businesses, including financial institutions, major software companies, and food delivery services, which have been forced to let go of employees due to economic concerns.
Wayfair hired more employees during the pandemic to expand its warehouse and customer service teams. By the end of 2021, the company had 16,681 full-time equivalent employees, a significant increase from the 12,100 it had at the end of 2018. As per the company’s documents, the number of customer service employees more than doubled during this period, reaching around 4,900 workers.
