Robinhood is preparing to cut about a tenth of its workforce. The company is changing its internal structure and trying to eliminate unnecessary management layers.
Against this backdrop, the recent words of Vlad Tenev stand out. In his opinion, Robinhood‘s business is currently at its peak, even though the latest quarterly results were far from the strongest.
The company itself explains the changes as a desire to speed up team operations and make the decision-making process less complicated.
On Tuesday, Robinhood announced on X that about one in ten full-time employees will be laid off. Tenev explained this as an attempt to remove unnecessary management layers and make the company less cumbersome.
In an internal letter, he wrote that Robinhood cannot continue to operate as a heavy, multi-layered organization if it wants to scale the business. According to him, the company needs to constantly raise the bar for efficiency.
A similar logic has already been used this year by Coinbase and Jack Dorsey’s Block. Both companies also explained layoffs as a desire to reduce the number of management layers and speed up team operations.
Layoffs Will Affect About 290 People
Currently, Robinhood employs about 2,900 full-time employees. The company reported the same figure in its annual Form 10-K filed with the SEC as of December 31, 2025.
In a separate Form 8-K, Robinhood clarified that along with the layoffs, it will also close some unfilled vacancies.
Restructuring costs are estimated at about $28 million. About $20 million will go toward severance and other employee payments. Another approximately $8 million will be related to stock-based compensation.
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The company plans to reflect these costs in the second quarter of 2026.
Robinhood Cites Strong Business Amid Layoffs
The company emphasizes that the layoffs are not due to a crisis. Robinhood calls this a decision made from a position of strength.
According to the company, in June, average daily trading volumes reached record levels in several segments, including stocks, options, and prediction markets.
Tenev stated that Robinhood‘s business has never been stronger. In his view, the staff reduction should help the company execute tasks faster and focus on the most important areas.
Robinhood did not directly mention restructuring due to artificial intelligence. However, the company stated that it will continue to selectively hire strong professionals and use advanced technologies to improve efficiency.
The layoffs followed a weak first quarter. Robinhood fell short of analysts’ expectations for revenue and profit.
Cryptocurrency trading was especially weak. The volume of digital asset transactions fell by about 50% year-over-year, once again showing how much Robinhood‘s revenues depend on user activity and market conditions.
