Last Thursday, Kobo laid off 63 people out of a global work force of some 500 people, the Toronto Star reported. Kobo PR manager René d'Entremont told the paper, "To focus resources on innovation, partners, and readers, the leadership team has realigned the organization's structure, which has also meant some staff reductions.
"As part of this change, teams have been restructured and optimized; redeploying employees to best use their skills to support the company's core goal of providing the best global e-reading experience. All our offices will continue to operate as usual, with a mandate to grow the business in each of our territories."
Kobo, which was bought by Rakuten in 2012 and is a partner of the American Booksellers Association, has had several executive changes this year. In February, Takahito "Taka" Aiki, former CEO of Rakuten's Fusion Communications subsidiary, was named CEO of Kobo, replacing Michael Serbinis. And early this month, Michael Tamblyn was promoted to president and continues as chief content officer.