Wayfair Lays Off 13% Of Its Employees After Telling Them To Work Harder

Wayfair is laying off 1,650 employees, equivalent to 13% of its global workforce, as the online home goods retailer struggled to rebound following its success amid pandemic lockdowns, reported Jordan Valinsky for CNN.

Wayfair implemented rounds of layoffs in 2022 and 2023. I Photo: Wayfair

CEO Niraj Shah, who recently went viral for telling his employees to work harder, stated in an open letter posted that Wayfair "went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period," referencing 2020 when online shopping spiked, sparking a "dramatic surge" in demand that doubled Wayfair’s sales to $18 billion.

A few years later, its fortunes have changed, with Shah writing that mid-2022 "was clear we were in a bust period," and Wayfair implemented rounds of layoffs in 2022 and 2023.

"I believe we need to stay focused as a company on what committed small teams can accomplish," Shah wrote on Friday. "In many ways, having too many great people is worse than having too few."

Nearly 20% of the layoffs will be on the corporate team, with the total job reductions saving Wayfair an estimated $280 million annually, as also reported by Nathaniel Meyersohn for CNN.

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