Global Grocery-delivery, Instacart, has announced that it is laying off 250 employees across its operations as part of a restructuring.
This represents 7% of the company’s global workforce. Instacart CEO, Fidji Simo said in a letter to investors that the layoffs will allow the company to streamline how it operates.
The company announced the layoffs alongside the release of its fourth-quarter earnings.
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Instacart also announced that three of its executives, including its chief technology officer and chief operating officer, will be leaving the company for personal reasons. The company said it doesn’t plan to hire or appoint a new chief operating officer “at this time.”
Tough decision
Announcing the company’s decision to let go of some of its staff, Fidji in the letter to the company’s shareholders, said:
- “Today, we made the tough decision to part with approximately 250 of our talented team members. This will allow us to reshape the company and flatten the organization so we can focus on the most promising initiatives that we believe will transform our company and industry over the long term.
- “I am confident this will enable us to execute with even more focus and efficiency moving forward.”
In an SEC filing, Instacart said the layoffs will allow it to better align its organizational structure with current “business needs, top strategic priorities, and key growth opportunities.” The company had a total of 3,486 employees as of June 30, 2023, according to a regulatory filing.
Tech layoffs in 2024
Instacart’s announcement came as the latest in the spree of layoffs being announced by tech companies since the beginning of this year. Just about 2 weeks ago, Microsoft announced plans to lay off 1,900 people across its video-game divisions including at Activision Blizzard, which it recently acquired.
According to Layoffs.fyi, which tracks tech industry job cuts, more than 70 other tech companies, including Amazon.com Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc., have let go almost 32,000 employees so far this year.
After laying off hundreds of staff, Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, last week told the company’s workers to brace for more job cuts as the tech giant continues to implement more cost-cutting measures across its operations.
Pichai said the layoffs this year were about “removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas.” He confirmed what many inside Google have been fearing: that more “role eliminations” are to come.
