Robinhood, the app-based brokerage that helped fuel the meme-stock boom, is preparing another round of layoffs as it becomes the latest tech company to slim down its workforce. In a recent Form 8-K filing released on Tuesday, the company announced that it would trim about 290 full-time employees, amounting to 10% of its workforce, and cancel a small number of open job postings.
The filing also noted that Robinhood expects to spend about $20 million on severance and benefits, plus roughly $8 million in additional stock-based compensation costs tied to the layoffs.
Robinhood shares jumped more than 2% on the news but then fell later in the day. The stock was trading around $95 as of mid-day Tuesday, down around 13% since the start of the year.
The company’s CEO Vladimir Tenev framed the cuts as a proactive move, saying in a memo that the company needs to simplify its structure to support its long-term ambitions.
“To achieve the massive scale of our mission, we cannot default to operating as a heavily-layered organization. We must be a lean, hyper-focused team where every single individual is empowered to make a massive impact,” he said.
