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Robinhood experienced rapid growth last year and the year before, but now there is reportedly a decline as its stock hit an all-time low. With this, the financial services company is axing almost nine percent of its workforce.
Despite this, the firm said its financial position remains strong, with over $6B in cash on its balance sheet. At any rate, the recent development in Robinhood has been described as its “hyper-growth” slowing down.
As a result, the firm may have to ax one in every 10 members of its staff. Robinhood’s chief executive officer, Vlad Tenev, explained that its sudden growth in 2020 and 2021 caused duplication of roles and functions in the company; thus, it needs to fix this now.
According to CoinDesk, at the height of Robinhood’s soaring stock prices, its workforce also quickly expanded by nearly six times the original number - from 700 to around 3,800 employees. As Tenev said, the number quickly ballooned to thousands, and duplication of jobs was not prevented in the process. Due to this reason, the company decided to cut jobs.
“This rapid headcount growth has led to some duplicate roles and job functions, and more layers and complexity than are optimal,” the Robinhood CEO said in a blog post. “After carefully considering all these factors, we determined that making these reductions to Robinhood’s staff is the right decision to improve efficiency, increase our velocity, and ensure that we are responsive to the changing needs of our customers.”
The company chief stressed that the layoff was not an easy decision for them, but it was something that they needed to do. He added that while it was really a difficult move, it is also a “deliberate step to ensure we are able to continue delivering on our strategic goals and furthering our mission to democratize finance.”
Finally, in the last part of his message, Vlad Tenev thanked all the employees that are leaving the company. He wished everyone well for their future endeavors and expressed gratefulness for their support of Robinhood and for everything that they have done for the company. The firm will also be providing separation packages, job search assistance, and healthcare for their “departing colleagues.”
