Aussie company cuts third of staff

Melbourne-based print-on-demand business Redbubble cut 141 staff in the 2022-23 financial year — about 37 per cent of its overall global workforce.

Fourteen per cent were slashed in January, with another 23 per cent let go in a larger reduction in May.

But it’s a move that’s tipped to save them $45m in operating costs this financial year.

Redbubble Group CEO and managing director Martin Hosking addressed the company’s AGM on Tuesday, said the Group’s forecast operating expenditure for FY24 to be between $92m-$100m.

“The savings identified fall into three categories – cost of doing business, brand and people,“ Mr Hosking said.

“To lower the cost of doing business, the senior team reviewed all contracts in place. This led to significant cost savings across the business with substantive reductions in the cost of website hosting and software.

“In January, the group announced that the brand awareness project would be suspended as the group no longer expected it to deliver a commensurate financial return.

“Finally, we had to make a number of difficult decisions related to our employees. This was a considered process to ensure that we maintained capability to deliver our priorities and position the group for growth.”

Earlier in October, the company’s share price surged 30 per cent after they reported underlying cash flow of $700,000 for Q1 FY24.

But that follows a plummet of about 40 per cent in August 2022, as the company at the time revealed ballooning costs and a loss of customers.

Redbubble has also faced its share of controversy in recent years.

Earlier in 2022, they were forced to pay outlaw motorcycle club the Hells Angels $78,000 after it was discovered the gang’s artwork, branding, and insignia was being uploaded and sold on items like t-shirts through Redbubble.

Fashion designers and even gaming company Atari Interactive have also launched legal action against Redbubble for similar reasons, because Redbubble users can upload copyrighted art to be printed and sold through their online marketplace.