‘We went overboard’: Boston-based Wayfair slashes more jobs, eliminating 13% of its workforce

BOSTON — Boston-based furniture retailer Wayfair announced another round of layoffs on Friday morning, a move that will eliminate 13% of its global workforce.

In a note addressed to “Fellow Wayfairians,” the digital home goods retailer’s CEO and Co-Founder Niraj Shah said that the company is getting rid of 1,650 team members. This comes after Shah cut about 870 employees in 2022.

“I want to say thank you to the 1,650 team members who will be leaving us today. You are all valued and talented individuals, and you have each made incredible contributions to Wayfair and our customers,” Shah wrote in the note. “We know you will land in great roles given your strong skills and expansive experience, but this is still sad for everyone. You have so much to be proud of, and I truly regret the impact this will have on you.”

Shah said that the job cuts come with a focus on streamlining business and cutting out layers of management, including senior people in areas that have had “too much time.”

“I think the reality is that we went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period and veered away from our core principles, and while we have come quite far back to them, we are not quite there,” Shah wrote. “The best way to make sure everyone in the company can thrive and that we can do the most for our customers is to make sure that we make the right decision in terms of what our go-forward organization should look like. While our focus today is on our people, I want to spend some time explaining how we got here and the thinking we used to make these decisions.”

In 2022, Shah said that it was clear that the company was in a “bust period” after going “overboard with corporate hiring during Covid.”

“I believe we need to stay focused as a company on what committed small teams can accomplish. In many ways, having too many great people is worse than having too few,” Shah wrote. “With too few, you get a lot done quickly, but you may not get everything done that you want. But having too many causes inefficiency, coordination costs, and investments in lower-return activities. That is what we have been experiencing and what we need to end.”

Reports indicated that Wayfair shares surged by 15% in premarket trading after Shah’s announcement.

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