Out-of-work employees at Hewlett-Packard and evaporated investment banks like Lehman Brothers may soon have some company on the unemployment rolls. This week, the chatter among eBay insiders is all about the possibility of mass layoffs.
The talk was ignited Monday by an article in Barron’s, which cited a report by Wedge Partners, a small Colorado investment-research firm. Wedge suggested that eBay was preparing layoffs that could hit up to 10 percent of eBay’s 15,000 employees.
An eBay spokesman said that the company “does not comment on rumors or speculation.” But the Wedge report has the ring of truth. EBay, the leader in online auctions, has been rocked this year by greater-than-usual rancor from sellers in the wake of significant fee changes and stagnant traffic to the site. Many analysts say the San Jose, Calif., company’s third-quarter performance has so far shown little improvement.
A report last week from Jeetil Patel, a Deutsche Bank analyst, also suggested that a decrease in headcount could help offset declining profit from fee changes, flat sales and the negative impact of currency fluctuations on overseas revenue. Mr. Patel lowered his revenue estimate for eBay and said in his report that eBay’s core marketplace “continues to show deteriorating market share trends.”
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The talk was ignited Monday by an article in Barron’s, which cited a report by Wedge Partners, a small Colorado investment-research firm. Wedge suggested that eBay was preparing layoffs that could hit up to 10 percent of eBay’s 15,000 employees.
An eBay spokesman said that the company “does not comment on rumors or speculation.” But the Wedge report has the ring of truth. EBay, the leader in online auctions, has been rocked this year by greater-than-usual rancor from sellers in the wake of significant fee changes and stagnant traffic to the site. Many analysts say the San Jose, Calif., company’s third-quarter performance has so far shown little improvement.
A report last week from Jeetil Patel, a Deutsche Bank analyst, also suggested that a decrease in headcount could help offset declining profit from fee changes, flat sales and the negative impact of currency fluctuations on overseas revenue. Mr. Patel lowered his revenue estimate for eBay and said in his report that eBay’s core marketplace “continues to show deteriorating market share trends.”
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