Glossier lays off one third of its workforce as it looks to work more with external partners

Digital-first beauty brand Glossier has announced that it is laying off 80 employees, which amounts to around a third of its workforce, with its internal technology team particularly affected. 

In an email that was reviewed by Retail Dive, Glossier founder and CEO Emily Weiss said the brand's internal technology team was hit particularly hard with the layoffs, as the business was looking to decrease its in-house workforce and work more with external partners.

Weiss also apologized to the effected employees and said the business had "made some mistakes" during its efforts to scale Glossier and that this had led to the restructuring.

"While I am optimistic about our future, today is an incredibly difficult day. I am deeply grateful for the hard work and contributions of all of our Glossier team members,” Weiss wrote.

She added: "Over the past two years, we prioritized certain strategic projects that distracted us from the laser-focus we needed to have on our core business: scaling our beauty brand. We also got ahead of ourselves on hiring. These missteps are on me.

"We're making these changes to effectively execute what we are uniquely suited to do at Glossier: cultivate a brand that inspires our community, deliver magical and unique experiences, and create essential beauty products that our customers can use for a lifetime."

Weiss also highlighted that the layoffs were "in the midst of a global pandemic" and that the business would support the affected employees.

In August 2020 Glossier laid off all its retail employees and closed its stores, reopening in 2021 and adding three new locations including a flagship store in London, to its portfolio. It received an investment last July of $80 million to drive its international expansion and added to its leadership team, hiring its first chief commercial officer, while naming a vice president of brand and a new CFO.