Restaurant-Software Firm Toast to Cut 550 Workers

(Bloomberg) — Toast Inc., a restaurant-focused software company, will cut about 550 employees, adding to the spate of technology industry workforce reductions since the start of 2024.

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The affected employees were told Thursday, according to a person familiar with the cuts, who asked not to be identified because the information wasn’t yet public. A spokesperson said Toast will discuss “business and operational updates” during its fourth-quarter earnings call scheduled after the market closes Thursday afternoon.

Read More: Tech Firms Fire Workers With No Qualms as Silicon Valley Shifts

Known for processing payments for restaurants, Toast went public in September 2021. Its shares have plunged almost 50% since then amid slowdowns in the food industry and competition from companies like Block Inc. Toast generated $2.73 billion in annual revenue in 2022, and analysts expect a 2023 sales increase of 41% to $3.85 billion when it reports fourth-quarter earnings. The company employed 4,500 workers as of the end of 2022, according to regulatory filings.

The shares declined as much as 5.3% to $19.09 on news of the workforce reduction.

A new wave of job cuts at the start of the year have shown that technology companies are moving faster to dismiss workers and shift priorities. A slew of marquee names such as Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon.com Inc. and Salesforce Inc. have eliminated positions in 2024. On Wednesday, Cisco Systems Inc., the largest maker of networking equipment, said it planned to wipe out thousands of jobs. Toast rival Block, which runs the Cash App and Square payments services, also said last month it was reducing headcount, but declined to give specific details on how many employees would be affected.

(Updates with share movement in the fourth paragraph.)

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