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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
Business
Joseph N. DiStefano

PayPal chops hundreds of Bay Area jobs in fresh jolt to tech sector

SAN JOSE, California — PayPal has revealed plans for a fresh round of job cuts in San Jose, a staffing reduction that serves as a disquieting sign that the Bay Area’s tech layoffs have yet to run their course.

The digital payments giant intends to eliminate more than 300 jobs at the tech company’s head offices in north San Jose, according to an official notice that PayPal has sent to state labor officials.

“PayPal is undertaking restructuring activity that will result in employee exits,” the company stated in a Jan. 31 letter that it sent to the Employment Development Department.

The company has decided to eliminate the jobs of 319 people who work at the company’s San Jose headquarters complex at 2211 North First Street, the WARN notice stated.

The most recent PayPal job cuts mean that the company has disclosed plans to cut 378 jobs in the Bay Area, all in San Jose. About two months ago, PayPal filed a WARN notice sketching out a decision to cut 59 jobs in San Jose, effective in November 2022.

The PayPal cutbacks could require several weeks to complete, the WARN notice stated. The layoffs began on Jan. 31 and could continue through March 31, PayPal told the EDD.

“The notifications of terminations will occur on a rolling basis,” PayPal stated in the WARN letter. PayPal added that the terminations will be “permanent.”

San Jose-based PayPal on Jan. 31 announced that it would cut 2,000 jobs worldwide, which equated to 7% of the company’s workforce.

PayPal is just one of the numerous high-profile tech companies that in recent months have disclosed plans for wide-ranging job cuts.

Amazon has said it plans to cut 18,000 workers worldwide. Google owner Alphabet has revealed a decision to cut 12,000 positions globally. Facebook app owner Meta Platforms has unveiled plans to chop 11,000 jobs around the world. Microsoft said it was eliminating 10,000 workers globally. Hewlett-Packard said it planned to chop 4,000 to 6,000 jobs over the next three years. Other high-profile tech companies that are planning or have conducted job cuts in recent months include Twitter, Salesforce and Cisco Systems.

The impact in the Bay Area is significant.

Since July 2022, these tech or biotech companies have revealed decisions to eliminate at least 500 jobs in the nine-county region, based on the WARN letters they have sent to the EDD for completed or upcoming layoffs:

—Meta Platforms: 2,464 job cuts affecting workers in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Fremont, Sunnyvale and Burlingame.

—Google: 1,608 layoffs impacting employees in Mountain View, Moffett Field, San Bruno and Palo Alto.

—Cepheid: 925 positions terminated in Newark and Sunnyvale.

—Twitter: 900 job cuts in San Francisco and San Jose.

—Salesforce: 752 jobs eliminated in San Francisco.

—Invitae: 736 positions cut in San Francisco.

—Cisco Systems: 673 layoffs in San Jose, Milpitas and San Francisco

—Hello Fresh: 611 positions terminated in Richmond

—Amazon: 524 job cuts in Sunnyvale and San Francisco.

In a letter sent to employees, PayPal Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman stated that the company over a period of months has attempted to restructure itself.

“Over the past year, we made significant progress in strengthening and reshaping our company to address the challenging macro-economic environment while continuing to invest to meet our customers’ needs,” Schulman said. “We have more work to do.”

That additional effort is in the form of wide-ranging layoffs, Schulman stated in the open letter.

“We must continue to change as our world, our customers, and our competitive landscape evolve,” Schulman said.

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