Art eCommerce company Etsy is slashing 11 per cent of its workforce as the market downturn continues to savage jobs across the world.
The NASDAQ-listed retailer has announced that 225 jobs are set to go.
Etsy made the decision after sales have remained “essentially flat” over the past two years as people tighten their belts.
Josh Silverman, the CEO, informed staff over a livestream on Wednesday local time (Thursday AEDT) that some wouldn’t have jobs to return to in the new year in what he dubbed “one of the hardest (times) we’ve experienced at Etsy”.
Although revenue hasn’t picked up, Mr Silverman said that other expenses had grown, despite “significant cost-cutting measures” and a hiring freeze.
“This is ultimately not a sustainable trajectory and we must change it,” he lamented.
Mr Silverman tried to end on a positive note. “The waters may be rough right now but there’s no other ship I’d rather be on, and no other crew I’d rather be with, as we weather this cycle and emerge even stronger on the other side,” he said.
Staff facing the chopping block will continue to have jobs until January 2 at the earliest.
Their redundancy payouts will cost Etsy between $37 million and $44 million, according to reports.
Off the back of the news, shares in Etsy’s US stock exchange listing dropped 2.2 per cent.
Several executives have also announced their departure, including Ryan Scott, the chief marketing officer.
Etsy’s total headcount will sit at 1,770 employees once the cuts are made.
Etsy is an American-based company best-known for its handmade or vintage craft items, often personalised for customers.
The business sells to Australians and has Australian sellers who use the platform.
It is unclear if any Australians will be impacted.
News.com.au contacted Etsy for comment.
It comes as a report from last month warned that Aussies are facing a pre-Christmas employment nightmare, with a staggering one-third of companies planning to cut jobs in the coming weeks.
The latest report from the Australian HR Institute (AHRI) sounded the alarm on an impending job crisis, indicating that the public sector will be the hardest hit, where a dramatic 60 per cent of employers are set to make redundancies.
The AHRI’s Quarterly Australian Work Outlook report, which involved more than 600 senior HR professionals, revealed a worrying trend of increasing job cuts, with 31 per cent of all Australian companies anticipating to make redundancies by the end of 2023.
