Layoffs Loom At eBay

Two weeks ago, eBay announced a restructuring. As any Silicon Valley trouper knows, that means layoffs will soon follow. And that, in fact, is what’s happening.

The online auction giant does plan layoffs, a spokesman confirmed to us, as part of a restructuring that fuses product and technology leadership at the company and unifies internal organisations devoted to buyers and to sellers. CEO John Donahoe, a former Bain consultant, has been trying to finely tune eBay’s core auction and retail sales businesses while positioning the company as a sort of online Costco.

But inside eBay, staff are worried for their own hides. The eBay spokesman said layoffs should be “small” in scale. But one eBay-er we spoke with believed the MBA-led company is planning to cut the lowest-performing 5% of staff, emulating an old General Electric tactic. eBay said 5% is “not even close” to the limited layoffs planned — way too high.

So staff should cast a skeptical eye on the other rumour going around, that eBay plans no severance for laid off workers. Still, given Donahoe’s apparently readiness to break with past company culture—or, as he calls it, “religion”—it’s no wonder some employees worry they’ll be lost in the shuffle.

(Pic: Donahoe at Allen & Co. Sun Valley schmoozefest in July.)