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Grim times at the online marketplace
eBay will cut 2,400 jobs before March, the e-commerce site has announced. That's about 7 per cent of its workforce, the BBC reports.
The company made the announcement during its fourth quarter earnings report. It said it wanted to refocus the business and make sure it was "set-up to compete and win".
The job losses will span eBay Marketplaces, PayPal and eBay Enterprise. The company announced in September that it would split from its payment system PayPal. Once it has, it will give investors a greater say in how PayPal operates.
In recent years, the site has seen increased competition from other online marketplaces like Amazon Marketplace and Not on the High Street. It is also considering sale or public offering of its enterprise unit.
It's not all bad news for the company though. Its profits actually rose in the fourth quarter to $936 million on $4 billion in revenue. However, its forecasted earnings and revenue were lower than the market had expected.
Nevertheless, its shares rose by 2.6 per cent following the announcement.
Read more: eBay to offer item collections from Argos stores
PayPal will remain part of eBay until the second half of this year. Its profits have grown 19 per cent a year, which is twice the speed of eBay's. It's available in 203 countries, and is expected to process 1 billion mobile payments this year.
eBay said keeping the two firms together "clearly became less advantageous to each business strategically and competitively".