BOSTON — Online home furnishings retailer Wayfair is instituting a hiring freeze for the next 90 days.
Bloomberg first reported the news and cited a slowing economy as the chief reason that the Boston-based e-tailer is backing off on hiring.
Wayfair shared a statement with sister publication Furniture Today, noting that the company’s long-term plans remain unaffected by the pause.
“The business is in a strong position with an exceptional team in place, and we are confident that a short-term hiring pause will not impact our long term plans,” a Wayfair spokesperson said in the statement. “We’re pleased that typical seasonal sales trends are taking hold, but we see a great deal of uncertainty in the overall economy and believe it’s prudent to make some adjustments that will allow us to control our own destiny.”
In its most recent earnings report, released earlier this month, the company posted first quarter total net revenue of $3 billion, down 13.9% from the first quarter of 2021. The company posted gross profit of $803 million or 23.8% of total revenue for the quarter ending Mar. 31.
Diluted loss per share for the first quarter was $3.04 compared with a gain of 18 cents in the first quarter of 2021. The company said the number of active customers in its direct retail business reached 25.4 million by the end of the first quarter, which is a decrease of 23.4% from the previous year. Repeat customers placed 8.1 million orders in the first quarter of 2022 a decrease of 26.3% from last year.
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Thomas Lester is Retail Editor for Furniture Today and Digital/Managing Editor for Home Accents Today. A graduate of Emory & Henry College’s Mass Communications program, Lester spent a dozen years working for newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina covering an array of subjects, ranging from community news, government, education, ACC sports, professional baseball and more before joining Furniture Today in 2013. Reach out to me with your story ideas, tips and more at tlester@furnituretoday.com.
