eBay Cuts 800 Jobs as It Builds an AI Engine to Take On Amazon, Walmart and TikTok Shop

eBay is cutting staff again (about 800 roles, or roughly 6% of its workforce) as it reshapes the company around artificial intelligence and what it calls “strategic priorities.”

The reductions span the company and are described as an effort to reinvest resources and reduce duplication. In practice, that means some teams will shrink while others (particularly those tied to AI) receive more support and funding.

“We are taking steps to reinvest across our business and align our structure with our strategic priorities,” a spokesperson said, adding that the company is committed to treating affected employees “with care and respect.”

As of Dec. 31, 2025, eBay had around 12,300 employees worldwide. These layoffs bring that number down and continue a trend we’ve seen over the past few years… fewer people on payroll, more money flowing into technology and product development.

AI is central to that shift. eBay has been rolling out internal AI tools and embedding the technology more deeply into buyer and seller experiences. It has also partnered with OpenAI on an agentic web browser effort… a sign that management sees automation and smarter discovery tools as key to staying relevant in a crowded field.

At the same time, eBay is writing checks. Last week, the company agreed to acquire Depop, Etsy’s secondhand fashion marketplace, for about $1.2 billion in cash. Depop’s audience skews young (roughly 90% of its users are under 34) giving eBay a clearer shot at a demographic it has struggled to fully capture.

CEO Jamie Iannone framed the deal as a way to deepen eBay’s position in fashion, now one of its faster-growing categories. The company is also doubling down on “focus categories” like collectibles, auto parts and refurbished goods. In the fourth quarter, gross merchandise volume in those segments rose more than 16% year over year… one of the brighter spots in its earnings report.

All of this is unfolding against intensifying competition. Amazon and Walmart continue to press their scale advantage, while marketplaces like Etsy, TikTok Shop, Temu and Shein are competing aggressively on price, speed and trendiness.

Adding to the backdrop, eBay recently settled a lawsuit with David and Ina Steiner, the Massachusetts couple who were harassed by former employees over coverage on their blog, EcommerceBytes. Two former executives received prison sentences in 2022. The settlement terms were not disclosed, but the episode remains a reputational scar. For now, eBay appears focused on streamlining its operations while investing in areas it believes can drive some actual long-term growth.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Amazon as mentioned in the article.