Robinhood (HOOD) CEO and co-founder Vlad Tenev has announced plans to cut around 9 percent of the company’s full-time staff as shares of the US retail brokerage hit an all-time low.
In a message to all Robinhood employees, Tenev said the decision was “not easy” but was “necessary” to “improve efficiency, increase our speed and ensure we are responsive to the changing needs of our customers.”
Tenev blamed the layoffs on what he called a period of “hypergrowth” for the company between 2020 and the first half of 2021, “accelerated by several factors, including pandemic lockdowns, low interest rates and fiscal stimulus,” which which led the company to hire far more people than Robinhood’s CEO says the company needs right now.
According to Tenev, the company increased its headcount from 700 employees to 3,800 between 2020 and 2021.
“This rapid headcount growth has led to some duplicate job roles and functions, and more layers and complexity than is optimal,” Tenev’s statement read. Letting go of 9 percent of its workforce will allow Robinhood to “continue to deliver on our strategic goals and further our mission to democratize finance,” Tenev said.
HOOD shares closed at $10 on Tuesday, hitting an all-time low since the company went public in July 2021.
This is breaking news and will be updated later.