PayPal cuts over 500 jobs

PayPal has cut over 500 jobs as the company tries to streamline business operations in the future.

The electronics payment company has enforced layoffs in 325 jobs and 120 contractor positions, resulting in US$15m pre-tax restructuring charge in the fourth quarter.

Announced Monday, the cuts are mainly in the product and technology divisions, and contractors around the world, as the eBay owned firm consolidates nine product groups into one.

"Unfortunately, making the right decisions on behalf of our customers meant we had to make some very tough decisions inside our company," says David Marcus, PayPal president.

"While PayPal is strong and performing well, making decisions that impact our employees was hard. So this is a difficult day at PayPal.

"These are good people, good friends and colleagues, who have played a role in creating PayPal’s strong global leadership position today.

"We appreciate all the contributions that they have made.

"And they are being treated with fairness and dignity, consistent with our culture and values.

"Moving forward, I’m confident these changes will make PayPal even better and stronger.

"We’ve been redesigning our product organisation, collapsing nine product groups into one.

"We are creating agile teams of designers, engineers and product managers. Instead of being organised around projects, our teams will now be dedicated to products and focused on our customers — consumers, developers, small businesses and large retailers.

"Our customers can expect faster innovation and great products and experiences that make their lives simpler. That’s our commitment — every day."