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back to article Etsy issues pink slips for almost quarter of staff in quest for profit

Arts and crafts market Etsy announced today that it is cutting more workers in an effort to get its finances back on track. The eBay for handicrafts says it will now be laying off about 22 per cent of its staff, or around 230 people, in what it is trying to present as an effort to "sharpen focus" on its core business. Etsy …

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  1. Steve Aubrey

    You can't cut your way to healthy

    Been there, been victimized by it, been sold out to a healthy company.

    No T-shirt.

    18 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Mr

      Maybe you can get one on Etsy.

      11 0 Reply
    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: You can't cut your way to healthy

      No, but you can shed a load of positions created in a burst of IPO cash optimism.

      I like Etsy: you can find nice stuff on it at reasonable prices and I think it's significantly better experience than E-Bay for both buyer and seller. It's always going to be difficult to survive on the thin margins but I wish the company luck.

      4 0 Reply
      1. Snorlax Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: You can't cut your way to healthy

        @Charlie Clark: "No, but you can shed a load of positions created in a burst of IPO cash optimism."

        I think it was Fortune Magazine which described Etsy as the worst-performing IPO of 2015.

        It would seem that little has changed since 2015...

        0 1 Reply
  2. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

    I've had one of my leg amputated. I feel this will make me more nimble, better support me, and allow faster execution of any pratfall I attempt.

    13 0 Reply
    1. Chris King
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      At least someone at the company will know how to stitch up your wounds.

      Yes, mines the one with the crocheted pockets...

      8 0 Reply
  3. Alistair
    Windows

    Management meeting minuets [sic]

    1) raises Upper mgmt: < need 12% per BOD and 15% for Csuite. Bank says NSF. M did calcs,

    2) dismiss 25 to 30% of staff, save 89.8% of value of (1). Bank says go.

    3) neeeed nwe PA. Subtimmign intenr requets as tihs typign thign is hrud.

    15 0 Reply
  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Woah...what?

    Just a sec...Etsy had 230 people doing marketing and admin, fully a quarter of their workforce?? What? I mean, come on, it's a peer-to-peer selling platform with a middleware slice. The tech is mature, there's no distribution chain, payments are handled by credit card and paypal processors, they have brand recognition amongst artisans, I mean, what else is there to do that requires 200 people?

    I'd expect a domestic goliath like, say, Walmart or Target to have 200 marketers, and Etsy to have maybe ten.

    7 0 Reply
  5. Winkypop Silver badge
    Coat

    A stitch in time

    Doesn't save 230...

    --> The one with the added sequins

    3 0 Reply
  6. Justin Case
    Flame

    Schadenfreude

    God it's good to see these cocky upstarts suffering. Especially marketing types who need taking down a peg or two.

    2 1 Reply
  7. Snorlax Silver badge
    Devil

    And nothing of value was lost...

    "Most of the cuts will be marketing, management, and administrative positions in Etsy's Brooklyn, New York, headquarters.

    Nuff said.

    3 1 Reply

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