US online brokerage platform Robinhood is to lay off 23% of its staff, or more than 750 people, as interest in the stock market and cryptocurrencies has largely declined from the boom seen during the pandemic.
“Last year, we recruited on the assumption that the appetite for the stock market and cryptos observed in the Covid era would continue in 2022“, explained boss Vlad Tenev in a letter to employees published on the company’s blog.
The Californian company had already laid off about 9% of its workforce at the end of April, after seeing the number of active users drop by 8% between the third and fourth quarters of 2021. It also indicated that it would focus on cost control.
“It was not enough“, notes Vlad Tenev in his missive addressed to the “robin hoodies” (them “Robinhoodians“, pun between Robin Hood and “hoodie“, which means hoodie).
“Since then, we have seen the macroeconomic environment deteriorate even further, with inflation at a 40-year high, accompanied by a crash in the crypto market.“, he details. “This further reduced our customer base and assets under our control.“
The platform that went public a year ago retains around 2,600 employees, after laying off some 1,100 people in all.
This second wave of layoffs will concern all trades, but primarily operations and marketing, said the boss.
According to its quarterly earnings release on Tuesday, the service had around 15 million monthly active users at the end of June, 28% less than last year. Its turnover plunged by 44% over one year.