eBay, PayPal Hand Out Pink Slips Ahead Of Impending Divorce

Later this year, auction site eBay and its wholly owned online payment subsidiary PayPal will split into two different companies, and as they prepare to do that, several employees are being handed pink slips. The two divisions have reportedly begun notifying affected employees, most of which have been participating in projects that didn't turn out the way eBay hoped.

According to Recode and the "multiple sources" it spoke with, some of the PayPal employees who lost their jobs were in sales or held product roles in the division that was in charge of getting restaurants and small retail stores to accept PayPal. Part of that initiative included rolling out mobile payment options and special credit card readers called PayPal Here, but it hasn't taken off the way eBay and PayPal hoped.

eBay and PayPal

Not all of PayPal's job cuts came from those teams, though many did, which could be indicative of PayPal's desire to revamp its web and in-app payment infrastructure. In addition to credit card readers and mobile payment options, PayPal has made several other failed attempts to spur additional business, including Bluetooth beacons.

This round of layoffs comes only days after eBay announced in January that it would eliminate 2,400 jobs, or 7 percent of its staff, by the end of the quarter. Prior to that, eBay chief John Donahoe said in September of last that the layoffs could be as high as 3,000 workers, or 10 percent of its workforce.