GameStop has announced that it will lay off “a number of employees” as it strives for “sustained profitability. One of the layoffs includes the company’s Chief Financial Officer Mike Recupero. In addition to cuts at GameStop, the company also announced that employees at its publication Game Informer will be laid off.
GameStop CEO Matt Furlong revealed in a memo that the cuts are aimed at reducing costs and shifting toward an “intense owner’s mentality” for the failing-business-turned-meme-stock which means a company whose shares were driven by a large number of individual investors betting on a battered stock. In early 2021, a group of investors lifted GameStop’s shares nearly 2,500%. Then, they gave back most of those gains in the subsequent weeks.
“After making more than 600 corporate hires in 2021 and the first half of 2022, we have a stronger understanding of our transformation needs,” said Furlong in the memo. “This has positioned us to right-size headcount across several corporate departments.”
According to recent job reports from the Labor Department, overall firings and layoffs have dropped to record low levels. The planned job cuts are part of a growing trend of staffing cuts at companies. Employers have scrambled to find the workers they need to fill job openings.
GameStop has revealed that it’s investing heavily into the blockchain and NFTs. In the internal memo, Furlong talked about how it’s going to be a main focus for the company going forward. “Change will be a constant as we evolve our commerce business and launch new products through our blockchain group…,” Furlong said. “These changes will enable us to operate in a profitable manner as we execute against our strategy of pursuing sales growth in our commerce business and launching new products that empower customers within the digital asset and web3 gaming verticals.”
“Everyone in the organization must become even more hands-on and embrace a heightened level of accountability for results,” Furlong wrote in the memo.