Online broker Robinhood has recently fired 9% of its staff. According to the company CEO Vlad Tenev, Robinhood has decided to do so to improve efficiency after a $2 billion loss in the previous two quarters.
Over the course of 2020 and the first half of 2021, the startup experienced a period of hyper-growth, with non-zero accounts jumping from 5 million to 22 million, and revenue from $278 million in 2019 to $1.8 billion in 2021. The dynamics of these key indicators required an increase in the number of employees from 700 to almost 3,800 people. Tenev has said:
“This rapid growth has led to the duplication of some roles and job functions, as well as to an unnecessary complexity of the structure.”
He has promised that this optimization will guarantee the further implementation of the mission to democratize finance. Robinhood will introduce this year new products in the areas of brokerage, cryptocurrencies, and spending/savings, and will continue its international expansion.
