- Lyft is planning to cut jobs and restructure teams, in news first reported by the New York Times
- Since its debut on the public market last April, Lyft has fended off investor concerns and questions on its ability to turn a profit.
- The report comes ahead of the company’s first fiscal quarter earnings report in 2020, set to be released on February 11th.
- “We’ve carefully evaluated the resources we need to achieve our 2020 business goals, and the restructuring of some of our teams reflects that. We are still growing rapidly and plan to hire more than 1,000 new employees this year,” a Lyft spokesperson told Business Insider.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Ride-hailing company Lyft is planning layoffs as a part of some internal changes within its company’s marketing and sales teams. The news was first reported by the New York Times reporters Kate Conger and Mike Isaac on Wednesday.
The company plans to shift its marketing teams to focus on regions rather than group them city-by-city, while its enterprise sales team is re-evaluating which markets are its top priorities, Lyft confirmed. The layoffs will affect around 90 people in Lyft’s marketing and enterprise sales departments, it said. Lyft currently has 5,500 employees.
“We’ve carefully evaluated the resources we need to achieve our 2020 business goals, and the restructuring of some of our teams reflects that. We are still growing rapidly and plan to hire more than 1,000 new employees this year,” a Lyft spokesperson told Business Insider.
Shares of Lyft dipped roughly 2% following the report on Wednesday.
The company’s potential move to slash its headcount and restructure some of its operations come a few weeks ahead of its first quarter earnings report in 2020, set to be released on February 11th.
Since its high-profile debut on the stock market, Lyft has struggled to fend off investor concerns on its business model, which prioritizes growth over turning a profit. Both Lyft and its chief competitor Uber hooked riders by subsidizing rides and paying incentives to drivers. But lackluster IPOs have increased pressure on these companies to turn a profit.
Lyft cofounders Logan Green and John Zimmer attempted to allay those concerns in October, announcing at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live Conference that they expected the company to be profitable a year ahead of analyst forecasts, by the fourth quarter of 2021. Lyft reiterated that commitment when it reported third quarter earnings later that month.
State of hiring
Since Lyft’s October commitment to turn a profit, the company’s search for new hires seems to have abruptly slowed, according to data-provider Thinknum. Should the company hire 1,000 new employees this year – growing its current workforce by 18% – that will reverse the trend.
You can track the ride-hailing company’s job postings below: