Turbulent times at EBay — the company held a predawn conference call today to say it was laying off 10 percent of its global workforce, or about 1,000 permanent employees and several hundred temporary workers. The reduction is expected to result in pretax restructuring charges of approximately $70 million to $80 million, with the charges predominantly recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to John Donahoe, EBay Inc.’s president and chief executive officer. “While never an easy decision to make, these reductions will help improve our operations and strengthen our ability to continue investing in growth,” he said in a statement.

EBay also announced the acquisition of the U.S.-based online payments business Bill Me Later, an online payments firm based in Timonium, Md., for approximately $820 million in cash and approximately $125 million in outstanding options. In classifieds, the company acquired Denmark’s online classifieds site DBA.dk and automotive site BilBasen.dk for approximately $390 million in cash. (More.)

There was no immediate word where most of those cuts would occur. In a conference call, Donahoe added that the reduction “will impact most parts of the company. We are creating efficiency while investing where needed.”

Donahoe added that the company’s focus is to make EBay easier to use, improve product selection and improve payment company PayPal’s position not just on EBay, but elsewhere. The purchase of Bill Me Later certainly shores up PayPal’s position. BML will run as a separate unit of PayPal; CEO Gary Marino will stay on, reporting to PayPal’s president Scott Thompson.

“The more we spoke with PayPal, the more we saw similar goals,” BML’s CEO Gary Marino said on the conference call.”

“PayPal and Bill Me Later belong together,” said Donahoe. “We now have a powerful combination of the two leading, complementary online payment products, each with proven benefits for consumers and online merchants. At an attractive valuation, our investment in Bill Me Later opens significant long-term growth opportunities.”

Part of BML’s attraction is its ease of use. Consumers often prefer it to online credit-card transactions. BML says when stores add the option to bill later, items in the consumers’ shopping carts typically double. Thompson said BL will help lower the overall transaction costs for PayPal.

Donahoe tried to tie the layoffs to company strategy and long-term growth. He said that he has commited himself to strong discipline within the company and that Ebay’s on the right path with its business. He admitted that the economy and stronger dollar are impacting EBay. However, he said he expected to hit the low end of its third quarterly earnings guidance. Earnings are scheduled to be released Oct. 15. EBay shares declined in pre-market trading after the announcements. The stock was down 44 cents around 9:15 am ET, sliding to $18.50. If pre-market losses hold, the stock will open at a new 52-week low.