Robinhood is letting go of nearly a quarter of its staff, CEO Vlad Tenev said in a message posted to the company’s blog.
“As part of a broader company reorganization into a General Manager (GM) structure, I just announced that we are reducing our headcount by approximately 23%,” Tenev wrote. “While employees from all functions will be impacted, the changes are particularly concentrated in our operations, marketing, and program management functions.”
Robinhood’s chief product officer Aparna Chennapragada is also stepping down from her post as part of the restructuring, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, though she’ll “remain employed in an advisory role to the CEO or his designee through January 2, 2023.” Chennapragada joined the company from Google in March 2021.
The announcements came as Robinhood released its Q2 2022 earnings information a day earlier than scheduled, reporting total revenue of $318 million over the three months, which is 44 percent lower than the same period in 2021.
In April, Robinhood said it planned to cut 9 percent of its full-time staff, but “this did not go far enough,” Tenev said. The company had staffed up assuming that the increased trading after things like the GameStonk phenomenon and bullish crypto markets would carry into 2022 but has run into the headwinds of inflation and the so-called “crypto winter” that are affecting other companies. Those who are affected by the cuts will be able to stay at Robinhood through October 1st at their regular pay and benefits alongside a severance package, Tenev says.
Many companies have had to lay off or cut employees in recent weeks. Tesla laid off nearly 200 Autopilot employees while Shopify laid off 10 percent of its workforce.
Update August 2nd, 5:13PM ET: added the news that Robinhood’s chief product officer is also stepping down.
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