eBay To Lay Off Close To 300 California Workers

eBay is gearing up to slash close to 300 jobs in California, with the cuts slated to be completed by July 20.

According to a report in San Jose’s The Mercury Times, citing the state labor agency Employment Development Department (EDD), eBay notified the affected workers at the end of June. In the notice to the EDD, Amir Vonsover, an eBay employment counsel, wrote, “eBay will conduct a mass layoff.” The company said in the notice that the layoffs would impact eBay locations in San Jose, San Francisco and Brisbane and include layoffs in the company’s headquarters.

“This action is expected to be permanent,” eBay stated in the EDD filing, according to the report. “No affected employee has any bumping rights.”

The layoffs come as eBay continues to battle against Amazon in online retailing. Earlier this month, in an effort to push back against Amazon’s Prime Day shopping event, eBay announced that, starting the week of July 16, it will offer exclusive deals across a host of categories. In a press release, eBay took a swipe at Amazon, saying no membership is required to get the deals during the shopping event.

“Summer is a time to enjoy the things you love — as the temperatures heat up, so do our deals,” said Scott Cutler, eBay’s senior vice president, Americas. “eBay has everything you need this season, and no one else can match eBay’s variety and value, which fuel our shoppers’ passions with deep discounts on the latest must-have items.”

According to eBay, customers will be able to shop thousands of items across categories including electronics, home fashion and sporting goods, at up to 80 percent off regular retail prices. eBay is also throwing in free shipping on eBay Deals items. The company highlighted in its press release its new Best Price Guarantee service. If customers find an item for less on an eligible competitor’s website, eBay will give them 110 percent off the price difference for all eligible Deals and Top Products.

According to Reuters, Amazon said that it sold more than 100 million products around the world during Prime Day 2018. RBC Capital Markets estimates Amazon made between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in revenue from Prime Day, with gross merchandise value surpassing $3.5 billion.