E-commerce powerhouse, eBay, announced plans today to cut back its work force by about 10%. Approximately 1,000 permanent workers and 300-some temporary workers will lose their jobs. The layoffs are part of a plan to improve the company?s core marketplace division (the traditional auction business) which has been experiencing declining single-digit growth, while other sectors, most noticeably classifieds advertising (such as Craigslist, partly owned by eBay), have been growing consistently and rapidly. The company also plans to purchase Bill Me Later, an online pay system for other companies such as WalMart. eBay is also acquiring a Danish classifieds site to add to its growing Euro classifieds portfolio. These two purchases represent over 1 billion dollars in investments.
See "E-Bay to lay off 10% of work force", Brad Stone, The New York Times, October 5, 2008