Online auction house eBay Inc. has announced that it is cutting its global workforce by 10%.

eBay Inc. has announced that it is cutting its global workforce by 10%, affecting around 1,000 employees, in addition to several hundred temporary workers and reducing the number of open positions.

The online auction house also revealed two acquisitions that are intended to extend the company’s leadership position in online payments and classifieds.

eBay is acquiring the US-based online payments business Bill Me Later® – which lets shoppers make purchases online or by phone without the need for a credit card – for approximately $820 million (£469m) in cash and approximately $125m in outstanding options.

Boosting classifieds, the company has also acquired Denmark’s leading online classifieds site dba.dk and vehicles site bilbasen.dk for approximately $390m in cash.

Commenting on the company’s workforce reduction, John Donahoe, eBay Inc.’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “While never an easy decision to make, these reductions will help improve our operations and strengthen our ability to continue investing in growth.”

The reduction is expected to result in pre-tax restructuring charges of approximately $70m to $80m, with the charges predominantly recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008.

“We are making aggressive moves to strengthen our leadership positions in e-commerce and payments to competitively position our company for long-term growth,” he continued.

“Bill Me Later is a perfect complement to our portfolio, a company that belongs with PayPal. Together, PayPal and Bill Me Later will make online payments safer, easier and more convenient than ever.”

Bill Me Later has agreements with some 1,000 retailers, which use it on their websites or in their phone sales departments. More than four million people have signed up, many of whom use it because they are reluctant to give credit card or other bank details online.

eBay also stated it expects to hit the low end of its Q3 2008 revenue guidance and exceed GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per share guidance as issued in conjunction with its second quarter earnings release on 16 July. It is scheduled to announce third quarter results on 15 October.

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