PWCC, a Lake Oswego company that conducts online auctions for sports cards and other collectables, laid off more than 30 last week as it restructured the business.
“This is a necessary change as we usher in the future and ensure PWCC’s monthly net profitability as we look to future expansion,” founder and CEO Brent Huigens told employees in an email, which the company posted on LinkedIn.
PWCC didn’t immediately say how many of the layoffs are in Oregon but said it is gathering that information. Its headquarters and major operations are here.
PWCC has 130 remaining employees and the business continues to grow, Huigens wrote. He said the layoffs were designed to reorganize the company to “ensure PWCC’s monthly net profitability as we look to future expansion.”
Trade publication Sports Collectors Daily first reported the layoffs. It said the company notified laid-off employees in an online conference call.
Founded in 1998, PWCC touts sports cards and other collectables as an alternative investment analogous to fine art. It runs an online marketplace for auctions or fixed-price sales and also hosts clients’ collections in an Oregon vault for secure storage.
PWCC has endured a string of controversies over allegedly altered cards offered for sale on its marketplace and accusations of “shill bidding” that got the company kicked off eBay in 2021.
PWCC has continued to operate its own auction site, though, and Huigens said in his note to employees that the business is “thriving.”
Oregon’s jobless rate was 4.4% in March, modest by historical standards though up a percentage point from historic lows a year earlier. Layoffs remain relatively infrequent this year amid a tight job market, though the labor squeeze has eased a bit in recent months.
— Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | 503-294-7699
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