7% of workforce at Roomba maker let go

Roomba maker iRobot on Monday announced plans to cut around 7% of its workforce.

The cuts will affect roughly 85 employees, iRobot said in its fourth-quarter earnings report. The company had 1,254 employees as of Dec. 31, 2022.

For the fourth quarter, the company lost $84.1 million on $357.9 million in revenue. iRobot said it expects to see “muted” orders in the first quarter of 2023.

iRobot is cutting employees as it is in the process of being acquired by Amazon. The e-retailer announced last August it would buy iRobot for $1.7 billion, but the deal is still pending as the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether it violates antitrust law.

iRobot is joining a stream of tech companies that have announced layoffs in recent months as rising interest rates and slowing consumer demand have triggered fears of a recession and spurred companies to cut costs. Amazon laid off roughly 18,000 corporate staffers, while Meta, Google, Salesforce and others have announced significant job cuts.

The layoffs come after iRobot last August laid off approximately 100 employees, and closed a number of open positions, as a means of better aligning its cost structure with near-term revenue and cash flow, as well as improve profitability.

The latest cuts are being made “in anticipation that market conditions will remain challenging into 2023,” the company said in the earnings release. iRobot will take a $4 million impairment charge as a result of the layoffs.

iRobot shares were down slightly in extended trading on Monday.

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