Home goods retailer to cut 1,650 employees

Wayfair is cutting 13% of its global workforce as the digital home goods retailer continues its efforts to trim down its structure, cut out layers of management and reduce costs after going “overboard” with corporate hiring during the Covid pandemic, it announced Friday. 

The company plans to lay off around 1,650 employees, including 19% of its corporate team, with a focus on people in management and leadership positions, Wayfair said. 

The restructuring – the third Wayfair has implemented since summer 2022 – is expected to save the company about $280 million, it said. 

Shares of Wayfair surged 10% on Friday after the news was announced.

“The changes announced today reflect a return to our core principles on resource allocation,” Wayfair’s co-founder and CEO, Niraj Shah, said in a statement. “Although persistent category weakness makes revenue growth challenging, we remain encouraged by the share gains we continue to see.” 

The layoffs come after Hasbro, Etsy and Macy’s all announced cuts to their workforces as retailers contend with slowing demand and an uncertain economy. At the height of the holiday shopping season in mid-December, Hasbro and Etsy announced staff reductions of 1,100 and 225 workers, respectively, and on Thursday, Macy’s said it plans to cut more than 2,300 employees, or 3.5% of its workforce. The department store retailer also has plans to close five stores. 

Wayfair said the cuts were not related to fourth-quarter performance but were rather a proactive move to get the company back to its core structure.

During the pandemic, Wayfair saw its business explode as stuck-at-home consumers used stimulus dollars and savings to splurge on home goods like furniture and decor. It saw annualized sales go from $9 billion to $18 billion “almost overnight” and needed to boost its headcount to meet the demand, Shah said in a memo to employees Friday.

However, as the virus’ impact began to wane, the home goods sector overall started to see a pullback in…