American fintech company PayPal just announced its move to slash 9% (or 2,500 employees) off its total workforce, joining several tech giants in this year's wave of layoffs.
This latest development comes after the fintech giant announced that it would drop its total headcount by 2,000 in January last year, and after PayPal CEO Alex Chriss said, "We'll shock the world," in a CNBC interview 13 days ago.
PayPal CEO
— Financelot (@FinanceLancelot) January 30, 2024
13 days ago: “We will shock the world”
Today: "PayPal begins company wide layoffs" https://t.co/FJ0VKkgZj5pic.twitter.com/8RYVv0hYyU
In a memo, Chriss explained the reasons behind the job cuts, saying, "We are doing this to right-size our business, allowing us to move with the speed needed to deliver for our customers and drive profitable growth."
"At the same time, we will continue to invest in areas of the business we believe will create and accelerate growth," he added.
The layoffs will affect current positions within the company, as well as future job listings slated this year.
PayPal CEO Unveils AI Plans
Last week, Chriss revealed the PayPal's plans to launch new AI-powered tools that would "revolutionize commerce."
Among the new services are "smart receipts" that give personalized recommendations to customers via email receipts.
Chriss, who became the company's CEO last September 2023, believes these AI tools will mark a "new chapter" for the tech conglomerate.
"The data that we have and our ability to actually see what people have bought and know what merchants are trying to target, that's where I think AI is the huge opportunity for us," Chriss shared in an interview.
Editing by Katherine 'Makkie' Maclang