Brazilian e-commerce firm Facily slashes workforce by 30%

Less than 6 months after achieving unicorn status, social commerce app Facily has drastically reduced its workforce.

Startups has found that the cull exceeds 30% of the employee base, more than 260 people out of a 860-strong workforce. A list that has been circulating since yesterday contains names of 85 people from the technology department alone. The area saw the greatest impact of the cuts, with data engineers, software engineers, UX writers, BI analysts, among the professionals that have lost their jobs. Sources said there were plans for even more layoffs.

The response from Facily

Contacted by Startups, the company said in a statement that it does not comment on internal processes in order to “preserve” its employees and that such topics are treated “in a confidential and respectful manner”.

“Facily seeks constant evolution and efficiency to improve the experience of everyone who is a part of and interacts with the company. Changes, including in teams, are necessary for this. We will always prioritize what really makes a difference in driving our business,” the company added.

When announcing the conclusion of its series D round in December, Facily said it had plans to expand its operations in the Brazilian market and also enter Mexico and Colombia. In a conversation with Startups in March, the company’s founder, Diego Dzodan, said that the company was also preparing to enter the financial services market.

A troubled scenario

The workforce reduction at Facily are the latest among a pool of larges startups that, faced with the troubled global economic scenario, are having to reassess their projections and growth plans.

With so many uncertainties at play, the availability of funds for investment became more restricted, especially among businesses in more advanced stages of development and which have a high cash burn rate.

In the first quarter, investments in venture capital in Brazil grew by only 4%, according to a report by innovation hub Distrito. According to ABVCAP, there was a market decline of 27%. Globally, the decline was 13%, as reported by Crunchbase.

In February, we revealed that Brazilian foodtech Liv Up had cut 15% of its staff, the equivalent of more than 100 professionals. Last week, local newspaper Estadão found that the proptechs QuintoAndar and Loft were also reducing their workforce.

In an article published this week, The Information reported more than 2,000 layoffs in the last month alone among tech companies in Silicon Valley. Similar adjustments are expected to take place over the next few weeks.

(translation by Leandro Miguel Souza, editing by Angelica Mari)