Robinhood lays off almost a quarter of its staff

For the second time this year, Robinhood is reducing its headcount. On Tuesday, the company wanted to lay off 23 percent of its workforce. According to CEO Vlad Tenev, the cuts will affect every part of Robinhood’s business, but will primarily target the company’s “operations, marketing and program management functions.”

Tenev blamed a deteriorating macro environment for the decision, citing record inflation and the cryptocurrency’s crash as the main causes of the company’s recent troubles. Additionally, he acknowledged that the company was transitioned last year on the assumption that retail investors would continue trading shares and crypto assets at the rate they were in the early stages of the pandemic. Before Robinhood in April, the company had about 3,800 employees. “As CEO, I have approved our ambitious workforce plan and taken responsibility for it – that’s up to me,” he said.

On Tuesday, Robinhood is also a day ahead of schedule. The company reported a net loss of $295 million after revenue fell 44 percent year over year to $318 million.

In his letter to employees, Tenev said Robinhood would transition to an organizational model where general managers would oversee much of the company’s business. “This change will flatten hierarchies, reduce cross-functional dependencies, and eliminate redundant roles and positions,” he claimed. Tenev added that Robinhood would notify impacted employees via Slack and email. You can stay with the company until October 1, 2022.