GameStop has reportedly started yet another round of massive layoffs, cutting over 150 employees across the company, including key staff at Game Informer, the monthly magazine and website.
This isn’t nearly the first time GameStop has launched mass layoffs, as back in 2019, the company laid off over 120 employees, including multiple Game Informer editors. This time around, many of the employees fired were only recently hired within the last year. The retailer also lost over $100 million in the three months at the end of 2021.
These layoffs come at the same time as GameStop CFO, Mike Recupero, is also fired from the company. Recupero was previously the CFO of Amazon’s North American consumer business, but he joined GameStop roughly a year ago to help spearhead the company’s new direction. CNBC reports that Recupero “was fired because he was not the right culture fit,” and that he was forced out by GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen. He’ll be replaced by Diana Jajeh, who’s currently the company’s chief accounting officer.
GameStop had a huge shakeup of management last year, along with a new focus on a digital marketplace and NFT initiative. According to anonymous posts on Reddit, employees at nearly every department were laid off, except for anyone working on NFTs. In a leaked memo sent to employees from CEO Matt Furlong, it’s clear that blockchain is a major focus for the company moving forward.
“Change will be a constant as we evolve our commerce business and launch new products through our blockchain group…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.”
GameStop itself was the benefactor of a “meme stock” that surged the company’s shares last year, but it’s been widely debatable if that will translate into long-term profits for the company. At the same time, the NFT marketplace is flat-lining in recent months, with massive declines across the board as reported by outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
With the announcement of the layoffs, GameStop stock fell more than 6 percent in extended trading.
