Etsy: online marketplace cuts 11% of its workforce after reporting 'essentially flat' sales

Etsy is cutting 11% of its workforce, or around 225 jobs, as part of a plan to reduce costs after chief executive Josh Silverman said sales had been "essentially flat" for two years.

Several executives will leave the online marketplace, including its chief marketing officer but Mr Silverman acknowledged the "unfortunate" timing of the cuts, during the holiday season, saying that laid-off staff would be paid until at least 2 January.

In a post on the firm's website, the company said the cuts are part of a plan to make Etsy a "more focused, agile company" but the cuts will cost the company as much as $30m (£23.7m) for severance payments, employee benefits and related costs. 

Following the job cuts, which are expected to be completed in the first three months of next year, Etsy's core marketplace team will employ around 1,770 people.

What is Etsy?

Etsy is an online marketplace that allows independent sellers to set up their own shop and specialises in bespoke items, handicrafts or things not usually available in high street shops.

It's a US-based company which trades its shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York, where it listed its stock in 2015. Etsy's shares are currently trading at around $84 each - but it had a record high of more than $294 during the Covid pandemic in 2021.

Its biggest shareholders are major financial institutions such as Vanguard Group and BlackRock. Josh Silverman has been the chief executive since 2017, previously working at the online auction site eBay, the internet chat firm Skype and American Express.

However, the site was originally founded in 2005 by Rob Kalin, Chris Maguire, Haim Schoppik and Jared Tarbell who started the business from Mr Kalin's Brooklyn apartment. None of them remain with the firm.