German online fashion retailer Zalando said Tuesday it plans to cut hundreds of jobs to help it confront a “more challenging” economic environment after years of rapid growth.
“We have decided to start a program that will remove several hundred overhead roles across many of our teams,” co-chief executives David Schneider and Robert Gentz said in a letter to staff. The Berlin-based company, which operates in 25 European countries, currently has a workforce of around 17,000 people.
Zalando benefitted from a boom in e-commerce during the coronavirus pandemic when lockdowns prompted customers to do more online shopping. But those “strong pandemic tailwinds” have faded since 2022, Zalando said, “and the macroeconomic environment has become more challenging” as high inflation sees customers cutting back on spending.
