Wayfair laid off about 170 Massachusetts-based employees on Friday, saying the layoffs are part of a “major transformation to modernize our technology stack.”
Wayfair announces layoffs
Wayfair, whose corporate office is in Boston, said it plans to move its platform to the cloud, and with that change, the company’s technology needs have changed. Wayfair laid off a total of 340 employees throughout the company, it announced on Friday. All of the layoffs were in its technology division.
The company said it has worked on the plan for five years and is now closing its Technology Development Center. Centers in Seattle; Mountain View, California; Toronto; Boston and Bangalore will remain open.
The transformation, the company said in a statement, will allow Wayfair to “operate on a modern, scalable, and high-performance infrastructure designed to adapt to the evolving needs of our customers and business.”
Using artificial intelligence
Wayfair said it would continue to invest in technology and still maintains a team of 2,500 technologists. The company said its website would not be able to guide customers who are browsing, simplify navigation and have increased personalization. The company said it would also use artificial intelligence to boost productivity…