PayPal to Lay Off Dozens of Salespeople in Omaha Operations

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Jennifer Surane
Written by

Jennifer Surane

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(Bloomberg) -- PayPal Holdings Inc. will lay off dozens of salespeople in its Omaha, Nebraska, office as the company seeks to streamline those operations, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The company began informing employees, including business-development representatives and managers, about the moves this week, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing personnel information. The cuts affect fewer than 50 workers at the 2,000-person office.

“PayPal is continually evaluating our structure, processes, and resource allocation to align teams to support key business priorities,” Justin Higgs, a spokesman for PayPal, said in a statement. He declined to comment on the size and scope of the reductions, except to say they're unrelated to the pandemic.

Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman told CNBC in March that PayPal didn't intend to initiate any layoffs stemming from the coronavirus crisis. The San Jose, California-based company had abandoned its full-year guidance in May, citing economic uncertainty, but last week said its revenue should climb by 20% in 2020 as consumers increasingly turn to e-commerce for their shopping.

The cuts are meant to streamline the sales force as part of the company's regular efforts to centralize teams, one of the people said. The sales teams helped the company notch record revenue of $5.3 billion in the second quarter as more than 1.7 million merchants flocked to add the company's button to their online checkout process.

Costs tied to sales and marketing rose 16% in the quarter. Still, PayPal's operating margin surged 5 percentage points to 28% for the second quarter, the biggest jump in the company's history.