Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Juul Labs plans to cut about 500 jobs by the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The cuts are part of a broader reorganization plan aimed at repairing the company’s relationship with regulators, the report said. The e-cigarette giant will also cut its marketing budget and invest in ways to limit underage vaping.
Juul did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the Journal report.
The e-cigarette market is undergoing “a necessary reset,” the company’s new CEO K.C. Crosthwaite said in a statement Monday to the Wall Street Journal, adding that the company’s focus is to earn “a license to operate in the U.S. and around the world.”
Juul suspended sales of all fruity flavors earlier this month, ahead of the Trump administration’s expected removal of all flavored e-cigarettes from the market. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNBC that the halt will not deter the Trump administration’s plans.
The Food and Drug Administration is currently looking at how to address tobacco flavors, proposing a rule last year that has received more than 525,000 comments so far.
Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said last week that the administration is “hard at work” on the flavor ban.
Read the full Wall Street Journal report here.