Warby Parker Lays Off 63 Corporate Employees

Warby Parker (New York) is eliminating 15 percent of its corporate staff in a restructuring that will slash 63 corporate positions, CNNBusiness reports. The retailer of prescription eyewear and sunglasses says the cuts will bypass positions in its retail, customer service and laboratory staff.

The layoffs represent 2 percent of Warby Parker’s 3000-plus employees, which operates 169 retail stores in addition to the online direct-to-consumer services that brought the New York City-based company into national vision.

Warby Parker’s glasses are assembled in China and in an internal memo obtained by CNNBusiness the company’s Co-Founders and Co-CEOs, Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal,  attribute the layoffs to an unstable global economy. The company reported losing about $15 million in first quarter sales due to disruptions caused by the Omicron variant.

The eyewear maker has reported a loss or broken even every year since 2018. Its net loss in 2021 was $144.3 million.

“As we have discussed over the past few weeks, the global economy continues to face significant volatility and uncertainty,” the memo states. “This is impacting consumer behavior in every industry, including the optical industry. As a business, we must do our best to adapt, which sometimes involves making difficult decisions in the best interests of the company.”