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after a $506 million loss in the first quarter, Carvana cuts costs, starting with personnel. The online car retailer, which sells and supplies used vehicles, is going to lay off 2,500 employees and first shared the news in a vague company-wide email workers warn of what was to come.
On Tuesday, the company sent an ominous morning email saying there would be significant layoffs, but without specifying who it would affect. The email resulted in “mass hysteria at 7.30 am”, said one employee who later found out she would be fired – while she was on maternity leave.
The layoffs were mainly aimed at operating positions, and told the majority of affected employees via Zoom, many of whom took to social media to express their disappointment and concern. “You just fired us in a zoom meeting and said ‘have a nice day’ at the end. You should be ashamed of yourself,’ a Tweet shared. In light of the news, executives have decided to: waive their salary for the remainder of the year to fund the severance pay.
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Carvana cited the recent financial difficulties for the decision to cut the workforce. “While Carvana is still growing, our growth is slower than what we originally planned for in 2022, and we have made the difficult decision to reduce the size of certain operational teams to better align with the company’s current needs” , the company says. said†
It seems that Carvana already has a strong idea of what those needs are. On the same day of the layoffs, the company announced it would start spending $2.2 billion on various used car auction sites of Kar Auction Services.
From Tuesday, Carvana shares have fallen 5.4%, and are down 84% so far for the year.
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