Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Etsy Slashes Almost a Quarter Of Its Staff In Attempt To Refocus (engadget.com)

Posted by msmash on from the reevaluating dept.

Etsy, the online market for artisan and handmade goods, said on Wednesday that it will reduce its workforce by 15 per cent on top of another round of job cuts announced last month. From a report: CEO Josh Silverman announced this morning that Etsy was laying off 15 percent of its workforce. That's in addition to layoffs that were announced in early May; the total workforce reduction comes in at 22 percent, or about 230 employees. Silverman said the layoffs were part of an effort to focus on Etsy's "vital few initiatives," though he didn't specify exactly what parts of the company were being a drag. The only indication was that the company would focus on its "core marketplace."

27 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. I think you spelled laid off senior execs wrong by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    Laying off artisans won't help.

    Laying off senior execs will.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:I think you spelled laid off senior execs wrong by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 1

      I had to look this up, and I only found a few answers. They seem to help people set up shop online, they have their own payment system, and a bunch of random titles that seem to try to promote goods or create shopping trends.

    2. Re:I think you spelled laid off senior execs wrong by LiENUS · · Score: 1

      I know at least one of the etsy employees was working on the php7 version of the php-gearman interface.

  2. Re:a quarter? by ZiakII · · Score: 2

    .... Read the rest

    That's in addition to layoffs that were announced in early May; the total workforce reduction comes in at 22 percent, or about 230 employees.

  3. Etsy is bad at marketing. by ArhcAngel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I haven't seen any marketing from Etsy. Not saying they don't market but whatever they are doing isn't reaching me. I forget about them but every time I visit I find something I want.

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  4. The problem is they lost their focus by PortHaven · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They had a niche, hand made, one off product shop. Not the mass-produced stuff of ebay.

    They should of focused on that. That made etsy unique. It was like a niche artist market. But they allowed the lines to blur. And there isn't room for two ebays.

    1. Re:The problem is they lost their focus by hackel · · Score: 1

      Should Have Should Have Should Have Should Have Should Have Should Have Should Have Should Have
      H
      O
      U
      L
      D

      H
      A
      V
      E

  5. Re:a quarter? by sootman · · Score: 1

    Since "in addition to layoffs that were announced in early May; the total workforce reduction comes in at 22 percent."

    I know it's hard, but next time read the WHOLE summary before posting. Remember: post from the brain, not the spinal cord.

    --
    Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
  6. Re:a quarter? by Desler · · Score: 1

    Do you have the attention span of a gnat? The very next sentence would have answered your question before you asked it looking stupid.

  7. Re:another startup going *pop* by B33rNinj4 · · Score: 1

    You pretty much hit the nail on the head. Etsy has never really proven itself to offer enough value beyond eBay.

  8. Re:a quarter? by tripleevenfall · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm putting some crocheted multiplication table placemats up on my Etsy store now. BONUS IF YOU BUY THE MATCHING COFFEE MUG

  9. Who cares... by drew_92123 · · Score: 1

    99% of the crap on their site is just that, crap.

    Etsy could die tomorrow and nobody would care.

  10. What do they all do? by hackel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How can a company like Etsy employ over 1000 people in the first place? What the heck do they all do? The site isn't *that* complicated. I would have expected a handful of developers, managers, etc. Definitely no more than 20. This is just bizarre. I guess it's good that they're downsizing if they want to survive.

    1. Re:What do they all do? by dunnomattic · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I recall talking to a recruiter once that wanted me to interview for a dev position there. I believe we discussed how they they license out their platform (store libraries, payment processing, etc.) to other SMBs as well as consume it in-house. If that is the case, then I could see them becoming flush with cash on initial takeoff and expanding quickly over a short span. When the hangover wears off and the first wave of licensees goes elsewhere, perhaps it looks like this?

      --
      ...when everything is a crime, everyone is a criminal.
    2. Re:What do they all do? by mwfischer · · Score: 1

      How does Uber employ 12,000 full timers? It's an app.

      Welcome to bloat.

    3. Re:What do they all do? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      If they only had 20 employees, nobody would buy them. They have to appear successful to attract that sweet, stupid buyout money.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    4. Re:What do they all do? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      15 developers, 11000 lawyers and 85 people to grope the female staff.

    5. Re:What do they all do? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      I think Mojang demonstrated that you can get the sweet stupid buyout without excessive staff numbers.

    6. Re:What do they all do? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      There are always exceptions, but I maintain that the appearance of success is important when dealing with VCs. They aren't all the brightest bunch.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  11. Because they destroyed their community by Leuf · · Score: 2

    Etsy used to have a good community of sellers in the forums that, at least sometimes, kept them from doing stupid things. Then in their run up to the IPO they destroyed it.

    1) Banned lots of sellers from being able to post.
    2) Redesigned the forums to bury any real discussion with useless crap.
    3) Moved the link to the forums from the header to the footer.

    It was a clear message about the way things were going to be. We are going to start doing things you aren't going to like and we don't want to hear about it.

  12. sheer brutality by Thud457 · · Score: 2

    why do they have to SLASH their staff, that's just barbaric. Couldn't they just fire, errr, terminate, uh, lay them off?

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  13. "Core Marketplace" by Khyber · · Score: 2

    You mean all the bulk resellers you let in who fucked over the people that made you what you are today?

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  14. Cool Tshirt...Wait it's $43 by bobjr94 · · Score: 1

    Big companies selling their mass market products, doubling the price and trying to make it look like they are a small niche company is what killed them.

  15. Re:a quarter? by sunking2 · · Score: 1

    So they're still up like 10000% from their original employee.

  16. I miss Regretsy, actually. by Pezbian · · Score: 1

    I only learned about Etsy through the old Regretsy site. People trying to pass off dresses bought from China as homemade, terrible Photoshop work, upcycling shit that should never be upcycled, and plenty of other stuff they classified as "whimsical fuckery". It was like Cake Wrecks, but for crafts.

    --
    In a world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king--and the two-eyed man is a heretic.
  17. Re: a quarter? by PixetaledPikachu · · Score: 1

    It's 15 on top of layoffs that has been previously announced adding up the total to 22. It's in the summary

  18. Re: Why do they need 1000 people? by Cederic · · Score: 1

    ..and service, commercial negotiations, system design/enhancements, PR.. ..and now you have enough people that you need HR people, Finance people, legal, facilities, internal IT support for all of those, a management tier that tries to add more value than it costs..

    Etsy's supporting a lot of businesses. That's not a straightforward proposition and each of those businesses has expectations and demands.