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In the ongoing fight between managers and employees over remote work, online furniture and home-goods retailer Wayfair Inc., in its latest round of job cuts, appeared to side with commutes, offices and desks.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Wayfair
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executives on Tuesday told employees at a company-wide meeting that staff who worked remotely “were more likely to be laid off” in those cuts, which will affect around 1,650 employees, or 13% of the company’s global workforce. Those layoffs were announced on Friday.
During Tuesday’s meeting, executives also said workers should do a majority of their work in an office, the Journal reported, adding that executives said the company wasn’t exploring a sale.
Wayfair did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shares were up 1.6% after hours on Tuesday, after falling around that much during regular trading hours.
The layoffs were the latest to be announced this year. Among the others have been Macy’s Inc.
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Xerox Holdings Corp.
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Riot Games and Sports Illustrated. As those cuts accumulate, they have raised more questions and complaints about companies’ tact when they dismiss employees.
Following the pandemic’s remote-work boom for office employees, executives — including Elon Musk, who called remote work “morally wrong” — have complained that it hurts collaboration and productivity. Many employees, however, like the flexibility.
Weeks before the layoffs, Wayfair Chief Executive Niraj Shah sent a memo to staff encouraging them to put in more effort at their jobs, according to reports.
“Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from,” he wrote then, according to Business Insider. “There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success.”
In the memo to staff on Friday announcing the layoffs, Shah described the company’s expansion, going from a company without much money two decades ago to one that grew through a tech boom in the prior decade and then the pandemic’s boom in digital demand, which later fizzled.
“By mid-2022 it was clear we were in a bust period,” he said. “It was also clear that we had gone overboard with corporate hiring during COVID.”
Wayfair also laid off staff last year and in 2022. Shah said that while the decisions were difficult, “after each reduction we have gotten more of our goals done faster.”
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