Robinhood Cut Jobs Twice Because Its Pandemic Bet on Young Traders Failed

Robinhood laid off 23% of staff in August 2022, the second round in four months, after young retail traders stopped using the app as heavily. The company hired aggressively during 2020–2021 when trading was booming and strict financial rules required more staff. When that boom ended, the money Robinhood made from trading fees and lending dried up. The payroll it had built was too expensive to keep.