Etsy Inc., a crafting marketplace, is laying off approximately 220 employees, or 12% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan. The goal is to improve coordination and speed of decision-making, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The layoffs will mostly impact workers in the product and engineering department, said Chief Executive Kruti Patel Goyal in an email to employees. She emphasized that cost savings are a consequence of these changes, but not the primary objective.
Patel Goyal noted that the cuts were not driven by artificial intelligence (AI), but acknowledged that AI is changing how people work and will continue to impact how products are built and problems are solved.
Laid-off workers will receive at least 16 weeks of severance pay, with additional pay based on tenure, continued healthcare support for up to 12 months, and other benefits.
The company’s audit committee also approved a new stock repurchase program, authorizing Etsy to repurchase up to an additional $2 billion of its common stock.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
