eBay is cutting 800 employees, 6% of its workforce, for the third consecutive year of layoffs. The company frames each round as "aligning structure with strategic priorities," but three straight years of cuts tells a story of a platform in managed decline.
eBay's core marketplace has been losing ground to Amazon, Walmart's online marketplace, and specialty platforms for years. The company's attempts to differentiate through authentication, promoted listings, and AI-powered recommendations have not reversed the trajectory. Each year's cuts are smaller, suggesting eBay is approaching a steady-state workforce size for a mature, slowly shrinking platform.