Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen explains why he raised $260 million from Shopify

A year later, though—after relatively weak shipping demand, rising interest rates, and some intermittent CEO drama—the situation has changed.

Flexport reportedly plans to lay off another 20% of its staff in the coming weeks, The Information reported Friday, citing unnamed sources within the company. Flexport did not address Fortune’s request for comment on The Information’s reporting in emailed correspondence. In an interview with Fortune the day before, Flexport founder and CEO Ryan Petersen said he had “nothing to report” on further job cuts, while noting that he’s “always streamlining costs.” 

Flexport last cut 20% of its workforce in October 2023. Prior to that, it slashed 20% of its employees in January 2023, blaming “lower volumes” and “improved efficiencies.” If confirmed, the latest round of cuts would be the third in barely a year.

‘We spent too much money’

Petersen describes the staff cuts as a push for efficiency and profitability after an era of excess under the management of Dave Clark, former CEO of Amazon’s worldwide consumer division, who helped build the e-commerce giant’s logistics juggernaut. 

Clark was hired in June 2022 when Flexport was in the middle of a serious growth spurt. During his tenure, the Amazon veteran hired aggressively, invested heavily in developing proprietary technology, and made multiple acquisitions—all in hopes of building out a logistics network to rival Amazon’s fulfillment operations. But as Petersen explained, Clark may have…