Etsy are to sadly lay off 225 staff reducing their workforce by about 11% due to Etsy sales flatlining over the past two years. It’s not all bad news, Etsy sales are still double pre-pandemic times but they’ve now stalled and haven’t grown since 2021. And Etsy plans moving forward are to focus on a “Vital Few” projects to focus on growing sales.
While the Etsy marketplace is still more than double the size it was in 2019, we need to acknowledge and adjust for today’s realities. We are operating in a very challenging macro and competitive environment, and GMS has remained essentially flat since 2021. This means we are not bringing our sellers more sales, which is the single most important thing we can do for them. At the same time, employee expenses have grown, even as we have introduced significant cost-cutting measures and adjusted or paused hiring plans. This is ultimately not a sustainable trajectory and we must change it.
– Josh Silverman, CEO, Etsy
Two executives will also leave the business – Ryan Scott, Etsy’s chief marketing officer with Etsy consolidating marketing under Raina Moskowitz and Kimaria Seymour, Etsy’s chief human resources officer will be succeeded by Toni Thompson, previously Etsy’s VP of Global People and Talent Strategy.
As Etsy head into 2024, they have identified their “Vital Few” projects and initiatives that they believe will reignite Etsy sales, giving growth for sellers and engaging buyers. The layoffs will leave the marketplace similar to where they were early in 2022 in terms of the size of the core Etsy team.
It’s a bum deal for those losing their jobs in the run up to Christmas, but Etsy say that all departing personal will remain on the payroll until the 2nd of January at which time severance packages will kick in.
2 Responses
Too many marketplaces, too little customers?? Problems arise when these places need to invest serious money to complete with eBay and amazon.
No John that is not the problem. They have deep pockets and while they are not eBay or Amazon they used to have a solid niche marketplace. Many problmes over the years most importantly they changed their algorthim, allowed resellers masquerarding as sellers who make hand made items to resell items from alibaba, super markets and many other wholesales sites and have not had great reviews of their managment for quite some time now. They have alienated the true creators and sellers of vintage items and created a very hostile market place. A shame for all of the employees who lost their jobs and the sellers who don’t have anywhere else to sell other than creating their own websites or selling at local trade shows. A lot of the sellers are leaving in droves so time will tell.