Australian online retailer Redbubble slashes 23 per cent of staff
An Australian retailer has slashed its workforce for the second time this year as it battles to return to profitability.
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An Australian online retailer has slashed jobs for the second time in less than six months, announcing it is cutting 23 per cent of its workforce.
Redbubble, an online arts and craft marketplace, announced the new round of cost-cutting in a statement released to the ASX, saying it was part of a bid to save between $13 million and $15 million annually.
The latest round of job cuts will see 75 roles axed. It comes after the business cut 14 per cent of its workforce back in January.
The current cuts are set to cost the company $5.1 million.
Redbubble’s share price hit $7 during the Covid-19 pandemic, but its stock has plummeted 70 per cent in the last 12 months and is currently sitting at just $0.42.
Martin Hosking, Redbubble’s co-founder, returned to the CEO role in March following the resignation of Michael Ilczynski after two years leading the company.
“Since being appointed CEO, my primary focus has been returning the group to profitability as soon as possible,” Mr Hosking said.
“It has become clear that to achieve this, we need to further reduce our cost base. As a result, we have made the difficult decision to remove a number of roles from the group.”
He added the group had “more clearly defined” its two operating companies, Redbubble and TeePublic, which sells T-shirts with different designs that it acquired in 2018.
“We expect this new structure will allow each marketplace to operate more efficiently and effectively, with a greater focus on their individual strengths and unique value propositions,” he said.
Redbubble had reduced its total workforce by 37 per cent since the beginning of the year, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Wei-Weng Chen.
Redbubble said the majority of the cost-cutting benefits would not land until the beginning of the 2023-24 financial year, but said its ongoing expenditure for the 2023 financial year was expected to be between $125 million and $130 million.
The embattled e-commerce company saw its share price plummet by a whopping 40 per cent last August after it revealed ballooning costs and a loss of customers.
A number of other companies have been cutting roles.
Australia Post is axing 400 roles by the end of the financial year, while Melbourne-based software start-up Culture Amp laid off 9 per cent of its staff with around 100 roles to be impacted.
Australian technology giant Atlassian also announced it was slashing 500 jobs from its global operations in March, while ASX-listed software firm Xero revealed it will reduce its headcount by 700 to 800 roles.
A software firm called Thoughtworks, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, laid off 100 employees and another software development company, Kinde, laid off 28.5 per cent of staff at the end of March.
Originally published as Australian online retailer Redbubble slashes 23 per cent of staff
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