eBay lays off at least 200 employees as restructuring continues under interim CEO

• eBay laid off at least 200 employees last week, Business Insider has learned.
• The company confirmed the layoffs, saying it only affected a "low single digit" percentage of eBay's overall workforce.
• The move is part of eBay's continued efforts to restructure the company, as it faces growing competition from Amazon and other e-commerce startups.
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eBay laid off at least 200 employees last week, as the company continues to reshuffle its business under interim CEO Scott Schenkel, Business Insider has learned.

Most of the job cuts took place at eBay's San Jose headquarters, with a small group of employees affected in its Seattle office, according to people familiar with the matter. One person said a large portion of the marketing team was let go, leaving just under 30 people in the team's operational roles.

In an email to Business Insider, eBay spokesperson Julianne Whitelaw confirmed the layoffs, but said that it only affected a "low single digit" percentage of eBay's overall workforce. eBay currently has roughly 14,000 employees worldwide.

"It is part of our normal course of business to regularly evaluate initiatives and investments for eBay's continued long-term success," Whitelaw said in a statement.

The layoffs are part of eBay's continued restructuring efforts, as it struggles to gain share in the highly competitive e-commerce space.

Just last week, eBay added four executives to its top leadership team under interim CEO Schenkel, while losing its chief strategy officer, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Last February, eBay laid off roughly 400 employees as it consolidated its geographical regions under a single team, TechCrunch reported.

Schenkel was promoted to interim CEO in September after former boss Devin Wenig announced his surprise departure. At the time, Wenig cited conflict with eBay's board for his decision to leave, as the company was under pressure by two activist investors, Elliott Management and Starboard Value. In November, eBay announced the sale of its StubHub business to ticket seller Viagogo for $4.5 billion.

The changes come amid intensifying competition in the e-commerce space.

Amazon still owns roughly 40% of the market, but Walmart and smaller competitors are investing heavily to account for a larger share of online shopping. eBay, meanwhile, saw its sold items growth turn negative for the first time in company history during the third quarter, and sales volume dropped below $1 billion, according to Marketplace Pulse.

"While the rest of the market is growing, eBay is shrinking," Marketplace Pulse wrote in a recent report.

Wall Street analysts are also not so bullish about eBay's future prospects. In recent months, a number of financial firms downgraded eBay's ratings or cut their price targets for the company, citing underperformance.