Magic Eden Bids Cut Off 22 Employees Amidst Industry-Wide Layoff

Solana Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden has embarked on a 15% headcount reduction in its business.

The company cited the global crypto harsh market conditions and its plan to restructure its operations as the reason for the cutback. Based on the number of listed employees on LinkedIn, about 22 of Magic Eden’s staff were affected in this industry-wide retrenchment exercise.

“Magic Eden has made the difficult decision to part ways with 22 teammates as part of a company-wide restructuring effort,” CEO Jack Lu said in a statement. “As we established our priorities for 2023, we took an in-depth look at what structures and roles are needed internally, and had to make hard decisions to find the right mix of roles for us to pursue the next stage of scaling across chains.”

All of the affected employees were informed about the decision before it was finally made public to other staff members. Magic Eden confirmed that each one of these employees had at a certain time played a vital role in the company including offering immense support in their respective positions. Therefore, the firm said it;

“will be honouring them and their contributions with the utmost care and respect.”

Expansion Led to More Challenges, Says Magic Eden CEO

Magic Eden co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jack Lu explained that as the operations of the company expanded so did its challenges. One such challenge was the recent breach in its marketplace where adult content was posted.

More importantly, a look at its 2023 roadmap mandated the need to analyze and reshuffle its workforce, giving priority to roles that are of utmost importance. A letter addressing the layoff elucidated this plan further.

“To be clear-eyed, addressing our strategic goals requires making changes to our team,” the letter said. “This week, we will focus our energy on helping the people who are transitioning from Magic Eden. Next week, we will regroup, refocus, and move forward.”

As part of the transition process, each affected employee will receive two months’ severance and healthcare for another six months. All of them will be allowed to keep their laptops and Magic Eden will remove the 1-year vesting requirement for stock options. 

Many other crypto firms have equally succumbed to a layoff this year including Huobi Global which laid off 20% workers. NFT marketplace SuperRare reduced its staff size by 30% last month.