Ecommerce giant eBay Inc. (EBAY) is preparing to cut a small number of employees as part of recently announced changes to streamline and simplify its management structure.

Spokesman John Pluhowski said Wednesday a previously announced "organizational fine-tuning" effort would result in the loss of fewer than 60 positions, or less than one half of 1% of the company's 15,000-strong global workforce.

"The changes will help us improve end-to-end customer experience, build a global product and technology team and speed up innovation at eBay," he said.

Pluhowski said the company told employees on Sept. 21 that some jobs would be cut and management committed to announcing its decisions within 30 days.

He declined to confirm a blog report claiming cuts would be announced on Thursday, saying only that eBay would meet its 30-day schedule. He did not specify which departments would be affected by the job cuts.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company last October announced plans to lay off 1,000 employees and several hundred temporary workers, trimming its global workforce by about 10%.

EBay has been working for more than a year to restructure is core marketplace business, which has struggled amid the recession and intensifying competition from Internet retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN).

Wall Street sentiment about eBay has improved in recent months as the company has started showing signs of improvement in its core business. The Benchmark Company on Wednesday increased its price target for eBay to $25 from $21, citing the gradual turnaround of the company's marketplace unit as the economy rebounds, consumer demand recovers and comparisons get easier.

Shares in eBay were up 0.1% at $25.24.

-By Scott Morrison, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-6118; scott.morrison@dowjones.com