Lyft has more than 4,000 employees, which don’t include its drivers.
Photo:
Sebastian Hidalgo for The Wall Street Journal
Lyft Inc.
said it is cutting 13% of staff, or nearly 700 jobs, the latest technology company to say it needed to reduce costs ahead of choppy economic conditions.
Co-founders
John Zimmer
and
Logan Green
announced the cuts to staff Thursday. “There are several challenges playing out across the economy. We’re facing a probable recession sometime in the next year and rideshare insurance costs are going up,” they wrote in the memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
“We worked hard to bring down costs this summer: we slowed, then froze hiring; cut spending; and paused less-critical initiatives. Still, Lyft has to become leaner, which requires us to part with incredible team members,” they added.
The ride-hailing company has more than 4,000 employees, which don’t include its drivers. Lyft laid off 60 people, or under 2% of its workforce, in July. In May, it said it planned to slow hiring and reduce the budgets of some of its departments.
Technology companies large and small have been announcing hiring freezes or staffing cuts this year after many hired at a breakneck speed through the pandemic and now confront a choppy economic outlook. On Thursday, payments startup Stripe Inc., said it is laying off about 14% of its employees and blamed the harsh economic climate.
San Francisco-based Lyft also said it will sell its first-party vehicle service business and that most of that team is expected to receive roles from the acquiring company, which it didn’t name.
The company maintained its third quarter and 2024 full-year earnings outlook but said it expects to incur $27 million to $32 million in restructuring related to Thursday’s layoffs in this year’s fourth quarter. The company posts third-quarter results Monday.
Write to Preetika Rana at preetika.rana@wsj.com and Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com
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