Employees At E-Commerce Startup Fab Have Been Told Not To Come To Work On Thursday

Employees at e-commerce startup Fab received an email on Wednesday from the company's human resources department telling them not to come into the office on Thursday and to await further instructions, BuzzFeed is reporting, citing two employees within the company.

The remaining staff will meet one-on-one to talk about the future of the company.

According to BuzzFeed:

Employees are currently speculating that tomorrow will signal another round of layoffs followed by yet another change of direction, these people said. Many expect to be laid off as the staff is reduced to a small workforce to sell the remaining inventory of the company as it transitions to a new business model, those people said.

This follows rumors floating around last week that the struggling site was going to trim its New York office to fewer than 30 people, down from a few hundred.

According to Re/code, around 80 or 90 jobs will be cut tomorrow, eliminating around one-third of the company's global staff, and leaving it with around 200 employees. In a statement to Re/code, Fab spokeswoman Amy Juaristi said:

We have parted ways with incredibly talented individuals for whom we have only great respect and appreciation. Realigning our team is part of a broader business plan, which we began implementing last fall and which will continue to unfold in weeks ahead. We are seeing great success in our recent private label initiatives and customized furniture launches - and we are aligning our global team to support that direction. We have every confidence in our path ahead.

Fab has raised more than $330 million in funding, but has had some big issues over the last year, including layoffs, declining site traffic, departures from top executives, and product changes. Fab reduced its European website's offerings in January to only custom furniture.