GameStop have been dealt a blow today as the company have been hit with another round of layoffs including now former Chief Financial Officer Mike Recuper. While no exact number has been made public, some over on the GameStop subreddit have claimed that around 20% of staff at the corporate offices in Grapevine Texas have been let go with another in the same thread stating a number of 150.
Following the departures, GameStop CEO Mike Furlong sent out an internal memo which was later obtained by CNBC.
Furlong’s memo said the following:
Change will be a constant as we evolve our commerce business and launch new products through our blockchain group. After investing heavily in personnel, technology, inventory and supply chain infrastructure over the past 18 months, our focus is on achieving sustained profitability. This means eliminating excess costs and operating with an intense owner’s mentality. Everyone in the organization must become even more hands-on and embrace a heightened level of accountability for results. With that said, I’m getting in touch today to share three organizational updates: 1. After making more than 600 corporate hires in 2021 and the first half of 2022, we have a stronger understanding of our transformation needs. This has positioned us to right-size headcount across several corporate departments. Today, we’re making a number of reductions to help us keep things simple and operate nimbly with the right talent in place. 2. We’re going to be making a significant investment in our Store Leaders and field employees, who play a critical role fulfilling the needs of our customers. These individuals are, in many respects, the heart of GameStop. We’ll be sharing details regarding this investment in the coming weeks. 3. Mike Recupero, who has served as our Chief Financial Officer since last June, is departing. Diana Jajeh, who has been our Chief Accounting Officer and possesses strong institutional knowledge of the business, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer. 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. I’m confident in the team we have in place going forward, and thank you again for your continued dedication and focus.
Regards, Matt
Despite seeing drops after the announcement, GameStop stock ended trading day with a 15% increase in share price. This also comes off the heels of the announcement yesterday of a 4-to-1 stock split for current shareholders.
