CarMax Cuts 145 Corporate Jobs in Third Layoff Round in 11 Months

Used car retailer CarMax laid off about 4% of its corporate staff, or 145 employees, as part of “running leaner,” the company said in a Monday (Sept. 21) report by Bloomberg.

“These changes will help us move faster and create better alignment across teams,” a CarMax spokesperson said in the report.

These are CarMax’s first layoffs under CEO Keith Barr, who assumed that role in March, but they’re the company’s third round of cuts in less than a year. CarMax eliminated 350 jobs in October 2025 and another 230 in January, according to the report.

Barr became CEO with a mandate to reinvigorate CarMax at a time when high prices, rising interest rates and steeper gas prices are posing headwinds for the used car business, per the report.

When Barr’s appointment was announced in February, CarMax said in a press release that Barr had experience driving “transformational growth and operational excellence” across large, consumer-oriented businesses. In one case, at a hospitality company with more than 6,000 properties in more than 100 countries, Barr oversaw the development of a digital reservation system that set a new standard for the industry, CarMax said.

Barr said during a June earnings call that he is focused on improving CarMax’s digital car shopping experience. Barr said the company’s current process has added friction to the customer experience, affecting conversion and keeping CarMax from using its scale and store network.

During that call, CarMax reported that in the most recent quarter, the company’s net revenues increased 6.2% to $8 billion.

CarMax is set to report its latest financial results during a Sept. 29 earnings call.

Automotive eCommerce firm Carvana reported in July that during its most recent quarter, the company set records in retail units sold, quarterly Q2 net income and adjusted EBITDA.

Carvana’s retail units sold increased 38% year over year during a quarter in which the industry was down about 4 points year over year, Carvana President, CEO and Chairman Ernie Garcia said during an earnings call.

Garcia attributed Carvana’s gains to its execution and “building the machine” that includes reconditioning the used cars it acquires, optimizing its last-mile logistics for delivering those cars and continually enhancing the customer experience as it sells them.