Juul Labs Inc. plans to cut roughly 500 jobs by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter, reversing the embattled e-cigarette maker’s rapid expansion amid a mysterious vaping-related illness and a proposed ban on flavors that make up more than 80% of its U.S. sales.
The cuts are part of a broader reorganization aimed at mending the company’s damaged relationship with regulators. Besides the job cuts, Juul will trim its marketing budget and invest in new ways to reduce underage vaping.
The e-cigarette market is undergoing “a necessary reset,” the company’s new CEO, K.C. Crosthwaite, said in a statement Monday. Juul’s focus, he said, is on “earning a license to operate in the U.S. and around the world.”
Juul this year has added an average of 300 employees a month and its staff has swelled to a little over 4,000 employees. It enacted a hiring freeze in September shortly before Crosthwaite took over.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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