In a bid to save cash in a downward economy, e-commerce giant eBay is consolidating its North American operations -- a move that will see a loss of hundreds of jobs in British Columbia.
The Vancouver facility, which employs approximately 700 customer service agents, will close September 30.
The company said it plans on increasing employees at its Salt Lake City facility, which currently employs 900. Other worldwide facilities are also expected to expand.
Chad O'Meara, eBay Marketplaces vice president, says the move will "deliver a better customer service experience for eBay buyers."
"While it is a difficult decision to close our Vancouver facility, we believe that consolidating our North America customer service operations will help accelerate our efforts to continually exceed buyer and seller expectations."
Economic woes
Last month, eBay reported a weak economy led to lower earnings and revenue for the second consecutive quarter.
EBay earned $357.1 million, or 28 cents per share, in the first quarter, down 22 per cent from $459.7 million, or 34 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
When excluding items, eBay said it earned 39 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 33 cents per share.
Revenue fell eight per cent to $2.02 billion, just above analysts expectations of $1.94 billion.
Revenue from eBay's marketplaces segment - which includes eBay itself and e-commerce sites such as StubHub and Shopping.com - fell almost 18 per cent to $1.22 billion.
EBay Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.
With files from The Canadian Press
