StubHub has announced that it will be winding up its San Fransisco and Shanghai offices and will be laying off the majority of the employees based in these locations.
The ticket resale platform said that it would be focusing on building its new offices in new York and Los Angeles, and using these locations as key hubs for in-person work.
In a post on LinkedIn, StubHub said: “After much thought and consideration, today we announced that we are winding down our presence in San Francisco and Shanghai by the end of this year and will subsequently focus on building our offices in New York and Los Angeles as key hubs for in-person work.
“This unfortunately means that we will be letting go of the majority of our employees in both locations. We thank all of them for their dedication to our company and we’re committed to treating them with dignity and respect in the transition.”
The update also included a copy of the letter that StubHub chief executive Erik Baker sent to employees.
Baker wrote: “This is never easy news to share. Those who are impacted by these changes have already been contacted by our People Team about their individual departure plans.
“We are grateful grateful for the contributions of these employees and wish them well as they go on to their next chapters.”
Baker said that the decision had come as StubHub looks to optimise and streamline its operations following Viagogo’s takeover of the company.
In September last year, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approved Viagogo’s takeover.
The approval came almost two years after the $4.05bn acquisition that was agreed between resale giant Viagogo and StubHub’s former owner, eBay.
In his letter, Baker added: “To the team that remains, it’s growth time. Moving forward, our work will focus on in-person participation in our offices around the world, which – in addition to LA and NY – will still include locations in Utah, Switzerland, Ireland and Taiwan.”
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