Instacart will eliminate 250 positions, roughly 7% of its workforce, as the grocery delivery platform restructures to prioritize advertising ventures and other strategic bets.
The San Francisco company revealed the cuts Tuesday alongside its fourth quarter earnings, only its second financial disclosure since debuting on the public markets in September. A securities filing confirmed most affected employees will depart by the end of March.
CEO Fidji Simo told shareholders the move lets the company “reshape the company and flatten the organization” to concentrate on initiatives with long term transformation potential. As a result, Instacart expects fewer management layers and more individual contributors going forward.
Spokesperson Lyndsey Grubbs said teams focused on minor product tweaks will shrink. Meanwhile, the company plans to expand advertising partnerships with Google and Roku, plus its “Connected Stores” retail technology project.
The board also authorized a $500 million share buyback, a signal executives often use to project financial confidence. No office space reductions are planned for the SoMa headquarters.
The layoffs land just five months after Instacart’s IPO broke an 18 month drought for major U.S. tech startups. Its stock has struggled to reclaim the offering price since then.
Instacart now joins a wave of tech employers trimming headcounts to open 2024. Snap, Okta, and PayPal have each cut hundreds of workers in recent weeks, suggesting broader industry contraction remains underway despite renewed public market activity.
