Stripe cuts 300 employees in product, engineering, and ops, with ‘duck’ email

What’s going on at Stripe?

Stripe, the Irish-American payments technology company, has laid off 300 employees, representing approximately 3.5% of its workforce. The layoffs, confirmed by an internal memo obtained by Business Insider, were primarily concentrated in product, engineering, and operations teams.

Details on the layoffs

• Chief People Officer Rob McIntosh informed employees of the decision via email on Monday.
• The impacted staff have been notified and offered severance packages, including earned annual bonuses.
• Despite the cuts, Stripe plans to increase its headcount to approximately 10,000 employees by the end of 2025, reflecting a 17% year-over-year growth.

In the memo, McIntosh explained that leaders reviewed team structures to align with strategic goals for 2025, resulting in the decision to consolidate changes into one phase rather than rolling them out gradually.

Context and company position

The layoffs come amid broader workforce adjustments at Stripe over the past two years:

• In late 2022, Stripe reduced its workforce by more than 1,000 employees, or 14%, citing economic uncertainty.
• Mid-2023 saw additional cuts, primarily in the recruiting department, according to The Information.

Stripe remains the largest privately owned fintech company, with an estimated valuation of $65 billion. Co-founded by John and Patrick Collison in 2010, the company provides payment processing software to millions of businesses globally.

A communication error adds to the story

Adding a peculiar twist, Forbes reported that affected employees received an accidental PDF attachment featuring a cartoon duck labeled “US-Non-California Duck” alongside their layoff notices. Rob McIntosh apologized for the error, stating, “I regret any confusion it caused” and confirmed that corrected notifications were subsequently sent.

Impact on Canadian staff

It remains unclear if the workforce reduction at Stripe will affect Canadian employees. The company announced an expansion in Toronto in late 2024.

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