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• Robinhood said staff reductions will 'improve efficiency, increase velocity'
• Retail brokerage firm had 3,800 full-time employees as of December 31
Brokerage firm Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ: HOOD) is laying off as many as 350 employees, citing “duplicate roles and job functions” after their rapid expansion last year.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, in a blog post on Tuesday, said the move would affect about 9% of full-time employees and reported that the company has around 3,800 full-time employees as of December 31.
Share of the retail brokerage firm fell over 6% in extended trading.
“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,” Tenev wrote.
“While the decision to undertake this action wasn’t easy, it is a deliberate step to ensure we are able to continue delivering on our strategic goals and furthering our mission to democratize finance.”
Moreover, the blog post mentioned that the company would prioritize internal automation and operational efficiency opportunities.
Robinhood is scheduled to release its first-quarter results on Thursday.
Although the blog post didn’t mention any financial data, Tenev said the company has more than $6 billion in cash on its balance sheet, which was around $6.25 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of December.
Robinhood shed monthly active users during its fourth quarter and is expected to face a challenging situation in the upcoming earnings report as it will be compared against the first quarter of 2021 —when the GameStop saga hit the market — helping the company rise to prominence.
Picture Credit: Time
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